Pokemon: A New Verse
by Licras
Summary: A second trip into the Pokemon World for a wandering soul that's been there before. New regions have been discovered, new Mega-Evolution stones are being excavated, and Pokemon are getting born with odd typings! Follow Vermillion on his journey across the world to see new sights, have some fun, and help people out along the way. Semi-crack! Not discontinued, but erratic.
1. Chapter 1

**Pokémon: A New Verse**

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, nor any manga, anime, or games whose elements/cameos/mentions of which I may make mention of in this story.

Q/A at the end you may wish to briefly skim through.

Normal Speech: "What is up, my dudes. Whoa, is that a Mudkip you have there?"

Pokéspeech/Telepathy: _"Boy am I glad that humans can't understand what I'm saying. Cursing wildly and violently during battles would be much less cute than Pika-pika-pi!"_

Thoughts/Flashback: _'Whether I'm a human or a Pokémon, flashback or thought, you shall need to deduce from context my friend.'_

Legendary/Mythical Speech and/or Loud Speech: **"Human, are you insinuating that I am loud? I will have you know, this is my natural voice and that hurts my feelings. "**

 **Chapter 1**

In the wonderful world of Pokémon, a fabulous realm filled with wondrous creations of life and beautiful lands, there existed one entity who watched over the world and prevented its destruction. Born from a mysterious egg in the beginning of all things, a sole being created the world as it was known and protected it.

Or so he would have hoped.

As it happened, said green-eyed, red-pupiled being wasn't actually quite as omniscient, omnipotent, or whatever other omni-prefixed words existed in the human dictionary. As legendary as they made him out to be, he sadly could not measure up completely to the embellished tales.

From the moment he hatched from his egg in all of his full-grown glory, the world around him was fully created. Within his mind were instincts from deep within that compelled him to explore all that space had to offer and inspect the vast and various planets, stars, and other objects that dotted his new home.

The same instincts led him to create life on the most suitable planet he could find. Beings shaped inspired by his own image at first, then simpler, smaller creatures were formed. They became the species known as Pokémon.

At the same time, he decided on his own moniker, which would only – much – later be translated into what humans knew as Arceus.

The Pokémon flourished at first – adapting to all the environments that their world had to offer, creating homes, feeding off of nature. Arceus watched over the world fondly for a short time – a small stretch of nearly a hundred thousand years in his eternal lifespan – but all good things came to an end.

As resources dwindled, the Pokémon on the planet began to grow agitated. Disputes broke out all over the world and, soon, war. With their powers, the world as a whole was soon brought near ruin as Arceus simply watched, any plausible action deterred by his hesitation and lack of control over his own powers.

After some time pondering his mistakes, he set out for the nearest planets. He refused to simply be a bystander the next time. He would gain control, restraint, and precision no matter the cost.

After this period of time, Arceus moved on to the nearest life-bearing planet and gave it his best effort at manipulating the environment into one similar to the first, original biosphere. And then he began anew.

Arceus sprouted the seeds of life on the planet and watched as time passed and his creations grew. This time, he considered what required balancing to preserve the planet.

Through trial and error, he did his best to account for all that occurred. He made modifications and tweaks to his children, granting strengths, weaknesses, and affinities so that they might keep one another in check.

A certain equilibrium was met, but it simply was not enough. The planet itself seemed to rebel against the changes that his creations could bring and he simply could not do enough. It was thus that another world of wonder failed.

He had no choice but to move on.

Soon, he gained enough control over his powers to create entities that each reigned over different aspects of the world. The weather, the forces of nature, the primal elements, and so much more.

Some were never meant to be at peace with others, clashing in brilliant and terrifying ways. They overturned the world themselves for some time, but Arceus held faith in them. His efforts came to a fruition as he now had assistants who could keep the deterioration of the world at bay alongside him.

Content in the capabilities of his creations, Arceus closed his eyes and rested for some time.

When he awakened, by some miracle of life, the species known as human had settled themselves into the world.

Overcome with curiosity at this new and foreign lifeform, he sent clones of himself down to the planet to interact with the humans more closely. He wanted to know all about them.

His free-will clones spread out all over the world and discretely observed the humans in an attempt to understand the newly-appeared species. How similar, and how different, were they to Pokémon? What were their intentions, their goals in life? How did they live?

Perhaps most importantly, did they mean Pokémon any harm?

While some provoked his wrath in treating his creations like slaves, toys, and mere sport for hunting, others quelled his anger.

They treated his children like comrades-in-arms, friends, and even family.

He considered them relatively simple beings with few goals in life but to survive just as all life did. He did not begrudge the evil some held within their hearts, as he could not claim that all of his children were thusly kind.

The day that one of his clones was wounded severely in protecting the world from a shower of meteors preluded his discovery of the truth.

His clone met the human named Damos, who returned to him one of his Plates and helped him recover his health. In his gratitude, the Jewel of Life was forged and a friendship was struck up between them.

And when the clone suffered betrayal at the hands of the man he would call friend, his wrath suffered no bounds.

Yet Arceus himself, who watched over all of his clones, did nothing to act. He vaguely knew the truth behind the matter and wished to see how it would all pan out.

Even he was surprised when, with the help of Dialga, a group of children appeared from what seemed to be the distant future.

That was his first meeting with the boy he would come to know as one of his most chaotic chosen. Ash Ketchum.

In the subsequent settling of the situation at Michina Town, Arceus himself came to understand two very important things that he overlooked in his first appraisal of the humans.

Their vast potential for growth, development, kindness that Damos and Ash displayed.

And the seeds of chaotic ambition and greed that wasn't the slightest bit weaker, as represented by Damos's subordinate, Marcus.

Thousands of years passed after that discovery and he was content to let the world develop on its own. The humans expanded fluidly and evolving in their interactions with Pokémon.

It was in the Kingdom of Rota that Arceus discovered the first human entwined within the strings of fate.

Sir Aaron of Cameran Palace. His first chosen, of sorts, and one of the Aura Guardians that he had only seen infrequently in the entire history of the human species.

Many humans had gone their entire lives without awakening the potential for Aura, but Sir Aaron was a tried and true Aura Adept.

And a two thousand years after his sacrifice to protect his life-long companion, Lucario, and save the Kingdom of Rota, the boy who inherited some of his Aura was born.

Ash Ketchum.

Arceus had never seen a boy so enshrouded in the fates as he. The Original One watched as the boy, in his love for Pokémon and his quest to become a Master Trainer, accidentally stumbled across more of his Legendary and Mythical creations than any individual could ever hope to purposefully seek out in their lifetimes.

And at the same time, he had never seen one child become mixed up with plots to take over the world or bathe the planet in chaos as much as him either.

He watched all the way up until a man named Cyrus, seeking to create a world without spirit or emotion, succeeded in summoning Palkia and Dialga and controlling them with the Red Chains.

It all came to a head when Ash and his friends did his best to stop the Galactic Leader's plan, but ultimately failed. Giratina arrived from the Reverse World in order to free its fellow trio members, but it was too late.

The clash between the Sovereigns of Time, Space, and Antimatter splintered the Pokémon world and soon enough, it was all gone.

Arceus then made it all anew. He didn't simply float around idly while he watched the passing of time, after all. But he would never claim that he perfected the process.

Time and time again, he remade the Pokémon world and watched its story unfold. In some worlds, certain types of Pokémon didn't exist, such as the Dark, Steel, and Fairy typings. In other variants, brand new evolutionary chains of Pokémon were developed and the mysterious process of Mega Evolution was born.

Sometimes, he would even create worlds where humans were but a thing of the past. Pokémon eventually became the sole species on the planet and would form organizations called Guilds and Rescue Teams.

In a few occasions, Ash Ketchum never came into being. Instead, he followed the adventures of a trainer named Red. Following his life, Arceus discovered a group of children, scattered across the regions, who would grow to develop special abilities in relation to the Pokémon that filled the world.

Arceus continued this for some time, having long grown accustomed, and even somewhat numb, to the passing worlds and lives. Some worlds were filled with crime, wrought with darkness, as each living being on the planet fought to survive. He'd seen many things.

In the end, he decided to do his best to spare his creations of such cruelties of life.

He sometimes lost track of why he even lived this life of isolation.

It didn't take him long to remember the reason – he simply wanted a good, natural life for his children.

And one random day in the vast expanse of time, came an answer to his problems. A being from another universe, another realm of creation in its entirety.

The lifetime of observation came and went, but the memory never left the Alpha Pokémon. He had finally accomplished his lifelong goal of finding a peaceful end for his children.

When all was over and done with, he felt a tad lost in what he would do moving forward. A single departing sentence from his most recent friend solved his issue.

' _Why don't you try living for yourself a little bit now?'_

And so Arceus did. He worked to create a brand new iteration of the Pokémon World, one where he would tweak around and have a little fun. At the same time, he would try to give the boy named Ash Ketchum a hopefully more successful life.

As for all the efforts of the boy to become a Pokémon Master in the middle of saving the world a number of times, he never quite succeeded. It was enough to plant an inkling of pity in the Alpha Pokémon's heart.

He never expected such a simply stated task to be so impossibly hard. Any little tweak he made directly to Ash's fate just always seemed to turn horribly wrong.

The most recent attempt led all the way up to one of his newly created Mythical Pokémon, Hoopa, ripping a hole through the dimensions while imbued with far more power than even his Unbound Form could handle.

Said Mythical was currently in his Confined Form, with as apologetic a face as the Mischief Pokémon could make. Hoopa took another peek at the being that he ripped from the other time-space continuum before ducking his head down in shame once again.

Arceus stared down at the being and simply let out a sigh as he glanced to the human lying to the side of him. His eyes scanned over the rest of the Legendaries and Mythicals dotting his Hall of Origins.

The questioning gazes of his most powerful children and their own creations were obvious, but they knew better than to speak when uncalled for.

" **Leave my chambers for the time being** ," Arceus spoke, his voice reverberating through the halls. " **I will explain at a later time.** "

The imposing figures before him, that would have had any normal human stunned in awe or cowering in fear, simply accepted that answer and left the main hall in an orderly fashion.

One of Arceus's eyes locked onto one of the small, retreating figures with a glare. " **We shall discuss your punishment later, Hoopa.** "

The light purple Pokémon chuckled nervously as he continued his escape.

Arceus watched the door shut firmly. His eyes, hooves, and wheel flashed dark pink as a layer of formless energy settled over the room, sealing it tightly.

" **I believe you can stop pretending now, old friend.** "

The figure lying on the ground at his side sat up smoothly and opened his eyes, scratching his head with a chuckle.

"I guess I am getting pretty old now if you could tell that I was faking it," he spoke. "It's been a long time, Arceus. How's everything going?"

" **Well enough,** " Arceus responded with a small smirk. " **A lot has changed since you left. I think even you would be surprised.** "

"Have at it then," the figure responded with a challenging raise of his brow.

Arceus chuckled. " **I will indeed, but we have plenty of time for that later. First, answer me this. How would you feel about going on another adventure?** "

…..

 **A/N: General Q and A**

 **Q: If you're here for news about Harry Potter: Divergent Paths. If not, you can skip this first Answer:**

 **A: Refer to my profile. TLDR, I'm rewriting it and hoping to get back to it eventually. Hiatus occurred cause of real-life things, cause it just be like that sometimes.**

 **Q: Did you mention Pokémon Mystery Dungeon and the Pokémon Adventures manga in that long part with Arceus?**

 **A: Why yes, yes I did. You will definitely see some characters of Pokémon Adventures (Pokédex Holders, primarily) make appearances like Ruby and Sapphire. I will not be using all of them, as I simply don't have the ability within myself to make as cohesive and complicated a storyline as Pokémon Adventures totes.**

 **I'll likely try my hand at some plotlines, altered of course, from the manga, though definitely not all of them. Best not to make any assumptions on how any characters will act based on the manga/anime/games, because it could be any of the three versions or a mixture of them.**

 **And if you have no idea what I'm talking about, don't worry about it! You won't need prior knowledge to know that some good ol' Pokémon battling is going on.**

 **Q: What was that about new evolutionary chains? Mega Evolution?**

 **A: I'll probably be adding third/final evolutions all over the place as I feel like it, but mostly thirds/finals. Some because I think said new form would be cool, others just cause. I'll try not to go too crazy with it. They'll be everywhere, including enemies, rivals, friends, etc. Might even make a new Legendary/Mythical or two.**

 **Mega-Evos are a yes, new ones are a possible. Won't be doing any in-depth stat stuff, just for fun really.**

 **There'll even be variant typings for the occasional Pokémon as per 'I think it would be cool if…' and the altered universe. Maybe new moves as well. Definitely move combinations.**

 **Personally, I'm going to try to utilize Double Battle, maybe even Triple Battle, a bit more since those are gimmicks I typically see less utilized in Pokémon fanfictions, given that most start from the beginning, and even the games themselves.**

 **Feel free to leave suggestions for your own ideas for different evolutionary chains in the reviews if you want to, there's a good likelihood of me using them. Especially if you have interesting ideas for teams/Pokémon that friends, rivals, and enemies like May, Paul, Team Bosses and Admins, and the like could use.**

 **Q: What was that about "old friend"?**

 **A: If you know about me as a fanfic writer, you might know that this is my second time visiting the Pokémon universe.**

 **If you're new to me, welcome! Also, in that case, treat this like a reincarnation fic where our main character lived his first life as Ash, and is now living a second life as a different person.**

 **Q: What type of fanfiction is this going to be? Why are you writing this?**

 **A: It'll probably be semi-crack, for my personal enjoyment which I hope others might like as well. Our MC is relatively overpowered. Storyline will vary, anywhere from chilling with Ash to exploring new regions, but those details will be worked out as we continue along.**

 **This fic is mostly arose out of a desire to explore some cool Pokémon ideas, characters, and a re-lighting of the Pokémon fire within me. Inspiration credit given mainly to the amazing RPGMaker-based game known as Pokémon Insurgence and the team behind it, as well as the well-known fanfiction,** _ **Ashes of the**_ **Past, by Saphroneth amongst countless others.**

…..


	2. Chapter 2

**Pokémon: A New Verse**

 _Clarification: Trainer with a capital T refers to those who primarily train to battle. Trainer with a lowercase t will be used as a blanket statement so I don't have to repeatedly go "Trainers, Coordinators, and the sort" repeatedly. Otherwise, people shall be addressed by the appropriate profession title such as Connoisseur, Breeder, and Researcher. Trainer classes may be used for flavor, such as Kimono Girl, Schoolboy, etc._

 **Chapter 2**

It was a nice and peaceful day in one of the many regions in the Pokémon World, with the sun shining brightly in the sky and a nice breeze rolling across parts of the region.

In Opelucid City, a young girl was suffering from homesickness in a school far from home as she followed her dreams of becoming a Dragon Master.

In Striaton City, a triplet of brothers were celebrating the opening of their gym and restaurant, as well as their future aspirations of receiving the S-Class Pokémon Connoisseur license.

And in a field not far from Nuvema Town, a teen with raven black hair was sleeping in the cool shade of a tree, head rested on top of his hands. A purple and black backpack was set against the side of the tree, rustling lightly despite being sheltered from the wind.

A leaf floated down gently above the young man's head, its landing on his nose inevitable. The moment before it settled down, however, it was snatched up.

The sleeping man yawned loudly and sat up, stretching out his limbs and releasing the leaf onto the ground. His clear blue eyes scanned the surroundings idly before scrolling over to the backpack at the side.

It was suddenly very still.

He cracked a smile as he reached for the backpack which suddenly started shivering. As expected, the bag was already unzipped as he brought the opening to his face.

A small, electrified web shot out of the opening, followed by an escaping blur. The man simply rose a glowing blue hand to block the incoming projectile and swiped the other hand, catching the fleeing silhouette.

He felt a small jolt of electricity followed by some squirming in the palm of his hand as he brought the invader of his bag to his face.

It was a tiny spider with yellow fur and four blue eyes making a pitifully cute expression as it tried to worm its way out of his hand. Its mandibles tickled his hand as they tried to pierce his skin just enough to make him let go, but the little arthropod was having no luck.

"A Joltik, huh?" the young man chuckled as he used a finger to pet the little critter gently. "Guess that means I'm likely in Unova right now. Wonder how Iris and Cilan are doing right now…"

The struggle in his hand finally stopped at this point and he took a look back. The spider was staring at him both begrudgingly and beseechingly, seemingly given up on escaping by its own power at this point.

" _Your hand is way too tough for a human…"_ the Joltik complained with one last wiggle. Two small tears worked their way out of the corners of his bigger eyes. _"I just wanted a battery or two. I promise I won't do it again. Please let me go…"_

At this point, he was starting to feel bad, so he released his light grip on the Joltik and placed him down on the ground next to his backpack.

"Sorry about that, little guy. You seem like you're just about out of electricity. Where's your colony?" the man asked as he rummaged around his backpack.

The Joltik watched the human nervously, internally deciding on whether or not it was a good idea to stay here.

On one leg, this was his first time meeting a human and the colony never had anything really good to say about them. On the other leg, he was really close to running out of electricity and could use the help.

He still had two more legs to consider, but who knew when some Pidove or Rufflet would swoop out of nowhere and snatch him up when he ran out of electricity. He would be terrified and helpless. That second option was looking mighty tempting at this point.

The choice was simple enough. _"I got lost when my colony was moving around,"_ the Joltik responded, doing his best to gesture with his body before he ran out of energy. Humans couldn't understand the Pokémon language after all. _"Do you have any batteries I can eat? I'll leave you alone after that!"_

The man chuckled as he noted the spider bouncing around on the edge of his vision. He did find a battery that he was planning on giving to the little guy, but he found a few other things he was looking for as well.

He strapped a blue and gray Xtransceiver onto his right wrist. The Trainer Card that he found brought a wry smile to his face when he looked at the amount of money – or lack of – that it indicated.

The man slid the card into his pocket and turned around, holding a battery out to the electric spider with his left hand. He could see the sparkle in its eyes as it happily attached its mandibles to the offering and slowly absorbed the electricity it had to offer.

The young man watched the adorable sight with a small smile as he placed the object in his right hand on the ground in front of the little spider.

"I don't think it's too late for introductions, is it little buddy? My name is Vermillion and I'm a Pokémon Trainer," the young man said, giving the Joltik a chance to register what it was on the ground before it. "How would you like to come along with me?"

Surprisingly, the small spider didn't take much convincing. With his colony nowhere in sight and apparently relatively uncaring of a loss from the brood here or there, the Joltik was quite happy to bump his little noggin against the button of Vermillion's first Pokéball.

Vermillion was content to let his new friend rest after what he assumed was a rather harrowing day. Further introduction could be done at a later time.

Now that he had some time to think and collect himself, he inspected his Trainer's Card and Xtransceiver more closely.

The Xtransceiver seemed to have more features than he remembered, first of all. While it used to just be a wristwatch that had a video call feature, it now also had a Map feature and a detachable earpiece, which was quite useful.

Vermillion took a quick second to confirm his location truly being Unova, while also appreciating the fact that he seemed to have a World Map available to him already. He took a moment to flip through the regions and was pleasantly surprised to find more than he remembered.

Starting from the beginning, there were the six main regions that lingered in his memory: Kanto, Johto, Hoenn, Sinnoh, Unova, and Kalos. There seemed to be a few geographical changes scattered all over the place, more noticeably in Hoenn, but it was nothing he couldn't adapt to. The mini-regions, like the Sevii Islands, Orange Archipelago, and Decolore Islands also remained the same.

The first significant changes came in the form of two new landmasses and a few islands.

The Ranger-populated regions of Fiore, Almia, and Oblivia made up the landmasses and half of the islands.

Almia appeared to be on share its land with Orre, a region new to him apparently that had a scarce amount of wild Pokémon, but plenty of desert.

Then there was the latest main region of flourishing Trainers and a brand-new culture – Alola. It was composed of four natural islands and what looked like an artificial island that was in construction. From what he knew, the region was only just starting to open up to the rest of the world after discovering each other's existences.

The thought of whole new regions that he'd never explored brought a wide grin to his face. His heart burned with a long-forgotten passion as Vermillion made a few plans.

The Ranger regions and Orre would probably need to be put on hold for a while. He had about two months before he intended on starting his first League Conference Challenge. That was just enough time to take a little trip around the main regions, starting with a visit to Alola, and check up on a few things.

With all of that out of the way, Vermillion took another look at his Trainer's Card. The small item functioned like a credit card, though it currently indicated that he only held a meagre 2000 Pokédollars in his accounts.

His name was written across the top, accompanied by a picture of his peacefully snoring face in the top left. His eyes dragged across the town of origin etched in for him, bringing a little smile to his face.

"Jubilife City, huh? Guess Sinnoh's as good a region to go with as any..." he muttered.

The young man slipped his Trainer's Card into his pocket and patted the dirt off of his clothes before heading over to the nearby route. Hopefully Professor Juniper would be in so he could get some extra care for Joltik.

…

"Hm… Well, I'm pleased to tell you that your Joltik will be perfectly fine," a light-brown haired woman reported, carrying the yellow spider in her arms and rubbing his head. "Unfortunately, however, my lab isn't specialized for Pokémon treatment, so Joltik will require manual recharging."

"That's fine. Thank you for the check-up anyway, Professor Juniper," Vermillion responded politely, taking the bug into his arms. He glanced over to the nearby table, which had a tray of three Pokéballs set on top of it. "Are there some new Trainers coming in today?"

A fond smile rose onto the woman's face as she answered, "Yes, three kids from this town in fact. I've known them for quite some time."

She seemingly reminisced in some memories for a moment before turning a suspicious glance to the young man standing in her lab.

"That reminds me," Professor Juniper said, moving her hands to her hips. "How is it that _you_ are _here_ in the Unova Region? Your Trainer's Card was only authenticated and issued earlier _today_ in the _Sinnoh_ Region's Trainer Database. I couldn't find any flights or ships from here to Sinnoh that would've made such a route of travel feasible…"

Vermillion laughed to stall as he made a wry smile on the inside. _'Come on, Arceus, you could do better than that…'_

Thankfully, a diversion arrived just on time. The doors to the lab slid open as a pattering of footsteps made their way into the lab accompanied by excitable chattering.

"I still think it would've been fine to let him get everything in a package for us, you know?"

"You say that, but look at him now. He's daydreaming even as we're stepping into the lab. He might've forgotten about us completely."

" _I hope he wakes up soon…"_ "Muuu…"

Vermillion turned to spot three kids and a Pokémon approaching them. A boy with black hair and glasses, a cheerful girl wearing a light-green beret, and another boy with brown hair that spiked off to the sides wearing a dreamy expression. Surprisingly, a Munna was floating around next to him.

"There you three are! Glad to see you made it on time," Juniper turned and greeted with a gentle smile, filing away her inquiry for later. The pink Psychic-type floated a bit closer with a murmur, garnering a "Nice to see you too, Munna," from the smiling Professor.

Vermillion watched the trio with interest. He recognized Cheren and Bianca from his last time around, though they had been older. He placed them at around thirteen years old, given that he met them last when they were around seventeen.

The former had been a teacher of the Trainers' School organization and the Normal-type Gym Leader of Aspertia City at the time, evidence towards the boy's talent in Pokémon education and training. The latter was on the path of becoming a Pokémon Professor, working under Professor Juniper as an assistant.

There were differences, however. He could detect a thirsty ambition within Cheren's eyes that he never spotted even a trace of the last time. He sensed a similar, but weaker, desire in the more whimsical Bianca.

He couldn't help but wonder if this new boy he'd never seen before had something to do with these changes that he felt. Vermillion could sense a peculiar aura about the daydreaming boy.

When he looked into the boy's eyes, he could feel a degree of confidence and mental strength that he could confidently say felt more appropriate on a king. A gleam lit up in Vermillion's eyes as his curiosity grew even further.

"Then I'll take this one!"

For the time being, however, it seemed like the trio finished picking out their starter Pokémon. A Snivy was engaging in a staring contest with Cheren while an Oshawott was messing with Bianca. Meanwhile, an inquisitive Tepig that had been released from its Pokéball by the other two was tilting its head at the remaining human, who he assumed to be his new trainer, and the Munna who was now making itself friendly.

The boy in question was, of course, still daydreaming.

Cheren turned to the boy, his mouth open, before noticing that fact and letting out a sigh.

"You know, I thought getting his starter would be enough of a shock to knock him out of his daydreaming, but I guess his thoughts built up too much…" he remarked.

Bianca just giggled. "If only we could understand Munna. Then we could just ask her when she's ready to eat again!"

The balloon-like Pokémon shook its head. _"I really wish Black would get around to telling them that I'm a male… Then again, I'm not too sure if Black knows himself,"_ the Munna mumbled, no doubt sounding perfectly cute in the ears of the humans.

The nearby Unovan starter Pokémon all stared at the floating spherical Pokémon for a moment before breaking out into various laughs.

" _Wow, that really sucks…"_ they all said, agreeing on something for the first time since they met each other earlier in the day.

The ruckus simply confused the Professor and two newbie Trainers, but Vermillion let a little smirk out. At the same time, he felt some rustling in his arms.

" _What's going on, Vermillion?"_ Joltik said drowsily as he poked his head out of Vermillion's arms. _"Where are we?"_

The bright yellow Pokémon worming its way out and onto Vermillion's head attracted the attention of Cheren, Bianca, and their starters.

"Oh my gosh!" Bianca nearly squealed, her eyes glittering as she walked over impulsively. "It's so cute!"

Cheren followed along to observe the new Pokémon and to stop Bianca in case she did anything too grabby. "A Joltik? It's a long way from its usual habitats, if I remember correctly," he remarked with a thought. He turned his head towards who he assumed was the spider Pokémon's Trainer. "Hello, it's nice to meet you. My name is Cheren and this is my impulsive childhood friend, Bianca. Over there is…well, perhaps it'd be best to introduce him when he's actually paying attention. Sorry if we're intruding on your personal space…?"

"Nice to meet you too," Vermillion chuckled as he held out his hand for Joltik to jump onto. "My name is Vermillion and I'm actually a new Trainer just like you two." After having enough time to get energized, his spider friend crawled down his arm. "This is my partner Joltik. Say hi, little guy."

The little Electric/Bug-type closed his eyes and smiled as well as he could, making a rather adorable expression. _"Hello other humans, nice to meet you!"_

Bianca nearly couldn't resist just grabbing the little Pokémon and rubbing it against her face, but suddenly, a brilliant idea came to mind. She jumped back and pointed a finger out at Vermillion challengingly.

"Vermillion, I challenge you to a battle!" Bianca stated with a wide smile. "If I win, I get to cuddle with Joltik for a few seconds."

' _Ah, the ever-deadly cute effect,'_ Vermillion mused to himself internally. He glanced at Joltik, who simply looked back questioningly.

" _Do you think her bag is insulated?"_ he asked. _"I wouldn't mind some more static electricity!"_

Vermillion just smiled wryly and looked back to his challenger. "Well, Joltik doesn't seem to mind. But what do I get if I win?"

The girl's energy seemed to deflate a bit as she lost her momentum. She stepped back into a more normal position as she tilted her head in thought.

"Um…" Bianca brought her hands to her head and started shaking it around as she racked her brain for an answer. Suddenly, she stopped as a thought came to mind.

She lifted her shoulder bag up from the side and opened the flap, revealing a small collection of berries.

"How about these?" she said with a smile. "I picked a few Oran and Pecha Berries earlier in the day for our new friends! But um, can I keep a few? I still want to have some for Tepig, Snivy, Oshawott, Musha, and Brav," Bianca laughed nervously.

Vermillion nodded in acceptance of the terms. "Sure. Let's take this outside, shall we?"

Bianca cheered and jumped up in celebration before charging outside, followed by a relaxed Vermillion. Cheren quickly chased them, bringing Snivy along. Professor Juniper shook her head with an amused smile before turning to Black, who now had Munna attached to his head. The cloudy look in his eyes was quickly disappearing, slowly being replaced by a dazzling gleam.

…

In a nice clearing close to the lab, Bianca and Vermillion were positioned across from each other. The beret-wearing girl seemed to having a little pep talk with her starter.

Cheren stood intently on the sidelines alongside his Snivy, both watching the field curiously and waiting for the battle to start.

"Looks like we're about to have our first battle together, little guy," Vermillion said gently, rubbing Joltik's head. "You ready?"

" _Absolutely! I'm so excited,"_ Joltik responded with a surprising amount of competitiveness. It was surprising to Vermillion, given how docile the little guy seemed at first. _"Some of the Galvantulas talked about their days with Trainers occasionally. The way they described their battles always sounded so awesome!"_

"Oh, that sounds pretty fun," Vermillion responded with a small smile. "You should tell me some of those stories later."

Joltik stopped bouncing around on the ground, suddenly frozen in shock. He shook his little head for a second and tilted it questioningly. _"Wait…you can understand me? Did you know what I was saying the whole time?"_

"What made you think I couldn't?" Vermillion answered with a chuckle. He turned his head to the side and stood up from his crouching position. "Questions can wait for later though, little guy. Looks like Bianca's ready to go now!"

Joltik nodded and shoved his thoughts aside for now, quickly overriding them with his excitement for a battle. He skittered his way onto the battlefield in front of Vermillion and stood at the ready.

"Prepare to taste defeat, Vermillion!" Bianca declared with fires lighting her eyes. "Nothing shall stand in my quest for all things cute and fluffy! Let's go, Oshawott!"

The blue bipedal otter waddled forward and flexed its arms proudly before putting its fists up and circling them around. _"Come at me, bug-boy!"_

Joltik clicked in annoyance. _"You're asking for it now!"_

Vermillion let out a chuckle and turned his head to the boy standing at the sides. "Would you like to do the honors, Cheren?"

The boy nodded his head and fixed his glasses before raising a hand into the air. "The 1-on-1 battle between Trainer Bianca of Nuvema Town and Trainer Vermillion of – Excuse me, it occurs to me that – "

"Jubilife City," Vermillion provided.

"Ahem, right, Trainer Vermillion of Jubilife City!" Cheren continued unabashedly, the name striking a strange tone within his mind. "This informal battle begins…NOW!"

"Oshawott, get in close and give him a good ol' Pound," Bianca commanded imperially.

The otter charged in with a battle cry. _"Well, I'm better at Tackling, but I can do a mean Pound too!"_

Vermillion shook his head in amusement. "All right, Joltik! You twitch faster than he moves, so don't let him catch you now. Slow him down with a String Shot. Follow it up quickly with Spider Web!"

"Oh no!" Bianca shouted. "Oshawott, move out of the way!"

But alas, the warning was of no use. The otter couldn't stop his full-on charge quickly enough and ran directly into the web and string that Joltik spewed towards him. Oshawott tugged at his body with a grunt, but the web tying him onto the ground and string slowing down his limbs wouldn't yield.

" _Man, this is no fair!"_ the Water-type complained, struggling in place. _"I only hatched like a month ago. Come on, have pity on a fellow Pokémon."_

Joltik seemed to waver for a moment, hesitant to leap towards the immobilized otter and continue his assault. Vermillion frowned as a smirk flickered onto the Oshawott's face, followed by a light glow blue appearing on his small arms.

"Joltik, String Shot onto the tree and jump back! Reel yourself in," Vermillion barked out quickly.

The Bug-type's mind didn't follow, but his instinct drove him to act. Web shout out of the yellow spider's abdomen and he leapt backwards.

" _Eat this one, bug-boy!"_ Oshawott shouted, his eyes closed in triumph. _"Air Slash!"_

The otter pushed his body forward as two saw-like energy blades formed in front of his arms, shredding open the threads binding him and tossing them at the retreating spider. The blades of energy whirred through the air violently, threatening to catch up to Joltik.

The Bug-type lifted its body up and cried out in pain slightly as the blades grazed his fur, thankfully landing only glancing blows due to his angle of retreat.

Vermillion watched as Bianca stomped the ground and pouted in annoyance. The girl was trickier than he gave her credit for, it seemed.

"All right, I think it's time to end this. Joltik, you should know better than to let your guard down in a battle," the young man chuckled.

" _Ooh, if all mistakes are this painful, I'll do my best not to make them,"_ Joltik clicked. His four eyes narrowed slightly. _"Let's get him back for it."_

Vermillion nodded. "If Oshawott wants to show us an Egg move, let's do the same," he grinned. "Joltik, Disable!"

The spider was suddenly outlined in blue, his four eyes glowing eerily, as the same glow settled onto the shocked Oshawott and immobilized him again. Joltik quickly followed with a Thunder Wave for good measure, releasing paralyzing sparks of electricity into the air and onto the unfortunate Water-type.

"Swing over to him and finish him off, Joltik. Poison Sting, then Absorb!"

Web latched onto another nearby tree as the spider hopped up and swung itself towards Oshawott, opening its mouth and launching a barrage of purple needles onto the helpless otter. It took only a short few moments as he was left looking like a porcupine.

"Come on Oshawott, you have to try to get away!" Bianca squealed worriedly.

Unfortunately, the otter simply couldn't break past the layers of immobilization on him. The surface of his skin crackled with electricity once more as if to emphasize this fact.

Joltik landed with a soft thump on the ground in front of Oshawott, approaching slowly and menacingly. The otter managed just enough control over his body to move his eyes imploringly and speak.

" _H-hey, buggy-bro, n-no hard feelings, right?"_ Oshawott chattered, having a bit of an issue with his muscles. _"Let's just, uh, call it q-q-quits here, shall w-we? I'll g-give up too!"_

The Bug-type smiled with all four of his eyes, giving the otter a sense of belief in the goodness of the world.

" _Sorry, but I'd like to make sure you aren't tricking me again,"_ Joltik said, pouring a bucket of dry leaves onto the Water-type's hopes and dreams. _"Absorb!"_

Red beams of light shot forward from his mouth, seeping into Oshawott's body and covering him in a red glow. The otter's mouth widened in discomfort as his eyes turned into dizzy swirls, head going limp as he was knocked unconscious.

A red beam of light shot back out of his body and into Joltik's mouth, who consumed the energy with a happy smile. The wounds on his body recovered as well under the influence of the incoming energy. _"Ah…that's better."_

"Oshawott!" Bianca cried out, clicking her Pokéball. White retrieval light shot out, engulfing the Water-type and sucking him back into the Pokéball, putting him into a stasis due to his unconscious state.

Joltik skittered back over to his Trainer with a curious look. _"Hey Vermillion, how did you know I could use Disable? I don't think I ever told you,"_ he wondered out loud. _"Is it the same way you can understand what I'm saying?"_

"Good guess, little guy," Vermillion smiled, scooping the spider into his hand and bringing the critter up to his face.

The young man covered one of his eyes with the other hand, concealing it from the people around. A deep blue glow lit up in Vermillion's eye, sending a shiver through Joltik's fur and body. The Bug-type couldn't help but feel as if his Trainer was looking directly into his soul.

"People call it the power of Aura," Vermillion explained quietly. "It's a kind of energy that exists in every living creature. I happen to be one of a small number of people who have the ability to manipulate it. With Aura, I can see the world around us in a special light and look into the Auras of all living beings, which can give me insights towards your origins, abilities, thoughts, and actions. I try not to use it too much during battles, though, because it feels a bit unfair," he finished with a chuckle.

" _Wow, that's really cool!"_ Joltik said with sparkles in his eyes. _"You're like a superhero then!"_

Vermillion laughed. "Something like that, little guy. Not too weirded out then, I take it?"

" _Why should I be?"_ Joltik asked with a tilt of his head. _"Humans might not know this, but I'm pretty sure just about every Pokémon out there wishes their Trainers could understand them… Well, except for the mean ones. Wait, wait, guess what I'm thinking!"_

Joltik closed his eyes and started shaking, seemingly thinking really hard about something. Vermillion humored the spider and spread his senses out, feeling Joltik's Aura. He could see…

"Ice cream?" Vermillion asked.

" _Awesome!"_ Joltik exclaimed. _"Is that what it's called? Some of my aunties and uncles back in the colony always used to talk about this tasty sweet thing that their Trainers would feed them sometimes. Can we get some too?"_

"Sure, next time we see a place that sells it," Vermillion laughed. "Oh, looks like the others are heading over."

Joltik nodded eagerly and hopped onto the ground, watching as Oshawott walked over with a sheepish expression. Snivy seemed to be snickering at a piece of web left on the otter's head.

"Aw, I really thought we would get you for a second there," Bianca said with a pout. "We couldn't do anything after that though…"

"A trick sneakier than I expected you capable of, Bianca," Cheren remarked with a re-evaluating glance at his childhood friend. "But it seems Vermillion's technique was too much to overcome."

"Oh, that's too much praise for me," the young man chuckled. "It's all thanks to Joltik's ability to use so many moves."

"But still, I don't think anybody can call your execution less than impressive," a voice said from behind them.

"You're finally joining us?" Cheren asked without needing to look.

"Black!" Bianca said cheerfully, waving both of her hands.

Vermillion turned to see the same boy from earlier approaching, but with a different air about him. He had a sheepish grin on his face as he approached with his Tepig on his head and his Munna floating aside him.

"Haha, sorry guys," Black laughed. "I got so excited about getting our starters and starting our journey that I got lost in my mind again."

Cheren just sighed and shook his head. "We expected nothing less from you."

"That's just like you, Black," Bianca giggled. "Oh, since you were daydreaming earlier, we didn't get to introduce you! Black, this is Vermillion, he's a new Trainer just like us! Vermillion, this is our childhood friend Black."

"I saw your battle with Bianca, it's nice to meet you," Black said with a grin and holding his hand out.

Vermillion shook the offered hand with a smile. "Likewise. Your Munna seems very well cared for and close to you," he commented idly.

Black nodded in thanks and looked to his glasses-wearing friend. "Were you planning on challenging Vermillion, Cheren?"

The boy shrugged with a helpless expression. "Normally, I would love to test my own strength, but I have no confidence in my ability to fare better than Bianca at the moment."

Snivy let out a discrete sigh. _"Phew. I really didn't want to get webbed like the stinky otter over here."_

" _Hey, I resent that!"_

Black adjusted his cap a little bit and turned back to his target.

"Well then, don't mind if I do. Sorry, let me introduce myself first. My name is Black and my dream for nine years has been to set off on my Pokémon journey and become Champion of the Unova League," he shouted energetically before extending his arm and pointing a finger out at Vermillion. "For the first time in nine years, there's something I can think about that isn't related my dream that I don't need Musha to help me clear my mind for. Will you accept my challenge to a Pokémon battle? I want to see what it is about you that my mind thinks is important for my dream!"

"Sure, I'll never pass up a friendly battle," Vermillion responded with a grin.

…

"Sorry little buddy, but you saw what happened to Oshawott," Black said with a warm smile, holding Tepig up to his face. "I don't want to put you up against that Joltik right now. Let's get to know each other better later before we take on a battle together, all right?"

The small fire pig nodded in agreement and was content to just rest on the ground. _"No problem! I really wasn't looking forward to getting webbed either, anyway… Hey, Oshawott, you got a little something on your ear!"_ Tepig teased as he moved over to his fellow starters.

" _Screw off, piggy!"_

Vermillion ignored the little byplay and watched Black take out another Pokéball. "Is that the one challenging Joltik?" the young man asked.

"Maybe later, but Musha's going up first," the boy responded, not daring to underestimate his opponent due to a gut feeling he had. "This one's just here to watch. Come on out, Brav!"

Vermillion watched with interest as a full-fledged Braviary popped out of the Pokéball. "You're not exactly a rookie trainer, are you, Black?"

"Yea, but Professor Juniper told me to wait until she could give me and the others this thing called a Pokédex," Black laughed guiltily. "Which is why I haven't left already. Also, I needed some more time to get my dreaming to a manageable level. You saw how I can get sometimes."

Vermillion nodded in vague understanding. "All right, well, let's get started then. Joltik, you're up again little guy!"

"Let's go, Musha!" Black said to the Munna floating at his side, who moved forward. As the balloon-like Pokémon passed him, he whispered, "We should have an advantage since Joltik shouldn't know any Bug-type moves yet but be careful. He already had two Egg moves, one potentially from an Ariados, so who knows what other surprises they have ready for us."

" _Got it, Black,"_ Munna replied with an emphatic nod.

"Your move," Vermillion said with a smile.

"Don't mind if I do," Black grinned. "Musha, start with Hypnosis!"

"Isn't that a troublesome move? Joltik, Disable then Poison Sting."

Just as the pink Pokémon glowed blue and emitted hypnotic waves of energy towards the spider, a countering Psychic force settled onto Munna directly and suppressed her actions. Joltik then opened his mouth and sprayed a volley of purple needles at his slowly hovering opponent.

Black didn't panic despite this development.

"He doesn't move around that well, anyway. Musha, Psychic then lock him down!"

A wave of telekinetic force washed outwards from the Munna, coating the volley of purple needles in Psychic energy before tossing them back at Joltik. As the spider tried to jump away, the same telekinetic force grasped Joltik bodily and threw him onto the ground.

Vermillion frowned slightly as the Bug-type didn't seem to have the strength to break out of it yet, even with the natural type advantage. "Looks like you're gonna have to tank through this one, little guy, but let's try to lessen the load a little bit. Counter with a Poison Missile barrage!"

"What?" Black couldn't help but remark with a confused expression.

Joltik nodded in acknowledgement and shot a new barrage of poison needles from his mouth, some colliding with the Psychic-controlled projectiles and knocking them aside, with the remainder heading for Musha once again. Without leaving a breath of time in between, Joltik's fur stiffened and a white glow surrounded his body as he launched a volley of Pin Missiles out towards the floating Psychic-type.

Musha managed to float out of the way of a few of the Poison Sting needles but was helpless as the follow-up collided into her with full-force, sending up a cloud of dust and smoke around her.

"Musha!" Black shouted, running forward onto the battlefield. Vermillion nodded his head and started walking inwards, gesturing for Joltik to join him.

A pink blob fell out of the cloud of smoke, but Black caught her in his arms.

"Hey, toss me your bag for a second, Bianca."

"Ok! Heave-ho!"

Vermillion caught the girl's shoulder-bag with one hand and retrieved the bag of berries inside with another in one fluid motion. He plucked out a few Oran and Pecha berries before sniffing them, nodding satisfactorily, and feeding one to Joltik.

"Good battle."

Black clicked one of his Pokéballs, returning Musha, before looking at Vermillion with a smile and nodding.

"Yea, it was great," Black agreed. "Really didn't see that move combination coming. So, Pin Missile, Poison Sting, _and_ Disable?"

"Apparently, his granddad on his mother's side was a Venomoth and the one on his father's side was an Ariados."

"Right…" Black stared at the mysterious teen for a few moments while he burned the blood-pumping battle into his memories. Despite its simplicity, there was a lot for him to learn from the experience. He was starting to understand why

At this point, Bianca came running over, waving her arms wildly in the air. "Wow, guys, that was awesome! It didn't feel like we were watching rookies at all!" she said with stars glittering in her eyes.

Cheren arrived slightly after, rubbing his chin in thought. "Yes, it truly was inspiring."

"Well," Vermillion clapped his hands together, "Now that we're done with that, why don't I treat you guys to a meal? I'll just be borrowing a few things if you don't mind, Professor Juniper."

"Yes, go ahead," the woman responded in exasperation, as the young man had already started walking back to her lab before even receiving an answer.

…

Vermillion watched the fruits of his labor with a pleased expression as he leaned against the wall. While the Professor didn't have many ingredients present in her fridge – _'I was going to have an assistant pick up groceries later…'_ – and the surroundings weren't very indicative of a self-sufficient lifestyle, – _'Ignore the ramen bowls. I…had a research project that I couldn't afford to pull myself away from for a…week.'_ – He was still able to whip up a basic egg fried rice along with a little side salad.

The salad was mixed together with some diced and lightly seasoned Oran and Pecha berry, courtesy of his winnings from Bianca, though the girl decided to simply give him the rest as he was making the chow for all the Pokémon anyway.

Black, Bianca, and Cheren were currently munching away at the light meal (having skipped breakfast in their excitement), while their Pokémon and Joltik ate from large bowl together at the base of the table.

"Vermillion?" a voice lightly called from the side.

He turned to see Professor Juniper gesturing for him to come over. He complied and exited the kitchen, walking back into the main lab and over to where the good Professor was standing.

"Did you need something, Professor?" he asked curiously.

Professor Juniper turned around, revealing that she was carrying a small box in her hands. Her eyes stared at him critically.

"Something like that," she remarked, circling him for a moment. "Well, I'm not sure if this is the wisest idea, but I can't deny my gut instinct if I personally wish to consider myself a researcher. Do you know what it is I have in this case?"

Vermillion considered concealing his guess but decided against it. "Would it happen to be a Pokédex?"

"That would be correct," Professor Juniper responded without a hint of surprise, "It is, however, slightly different from the traditional Regional Pokédex that we Pokémon Professors hand out to trainers that we deem promising. Each Pokémon Professor usually also has an additional Pokédex on hand that we may give out as we deem fit.

This is a National Pokédex. We typically only hand these out to foreign Trainers who visit our labs and have achieved some degree of accomplishment in the world yet were not initially gifted one.

At this point, Professor Juniper simply held the case forward and gestured for Vermillion to take it. He did so with no small amount of gratitude. He opened the case briefly and noted that its make and model was of the Kalos hologram-capable card style.

"I'm honored that you would give this to me on such short notice," Vermillion said honestly. It wasn't as if the woman knew anything about him or had any concrete reason to do such a thing.

Professor Juniper nodded with a smile. "You should be, truly. These things are valuable, you know? It's not like they grow like apples on a tree," she chuckled for a moment before straightening her expression. "From the way you battled to the compassion and care you showed for both your Joltik and the other kids' Pokémon, I couldn't help but feel as if it would be a wise idea to give you this. Despite your current lack of accolades, I get the odd feeling that it won't stay that way for long.""

"I'll do my best to be worthy of this gift then," Vermillion said with a grin.

"See that you do."

…

After staying around to chat with the Nuvema Town trio for a while longer as well as recommending a meditation regimen for Black to hopefully help with his unique condition, Vermillion and his spider companion bid them farewell.

" _So, where are we going now? And why are we standing on the coast?"_

"I was thinking of checking out Alola actually and finding some new friends. Does that sound good, little buddy?"

" _Sounds great! I've always wanted to travel…but, wait. Alola is an island region, right?"_

"That's correct, yes."

" _How are we getting there then?"_

"Well, I don't have enough money for a boat or an airplane, so I thought we'd enjoy a nice and brisk jog."

" _That sounds good…but can humans run on water?"_

"No, my friend, but Aura can do wondrous things."

And off they went into the horizon, confusing a few schools of Water-type Pokémon along the way.

…


	3. Chapter 3

**Pokémon: A New Verse**

 **Chapter 3**

A grub-like Pokémon squirmed around in the grass, covered in a thick layer of web and string. It stared up at the Trainer who bound it and gave in at this point, realizing that it wouldn't escape.

It wasn't too troubled, however, just as most Pokémon who mingled near the routes where humans frequented were prepared for their gateways to a brand-new life.

The human who immobilized it with a species of Pokémon it could only recognize as foreign took out a strange, red device which proceeded to scan it speak in a mechanical voice.

 _ **Grubbin, the Larva Pokémon. Its strong jaw enables it to scrape trees and slurp out the sap. It normally lives underground. They often gather near places frequented by electric Pokémon in order to avoid being attacked by flying Pokémon.**_

As previously expected, a Pokéball soon contacted its forehead gently. A red beam engulfed it and sucked it into the wondrous device, which then proceeded to shake three times before settling down.

"A fellow Bug/Electric type, eh, Joltik?"

" _Yeah! Are you going to actually train her later? It'd be nice to have a fellow Pokémon to talk to soon!"_

"I'll give you a solid maybe, little guy."

Vermillion bent down and picked up the Pokéball before hitching it on his belt with a satisfactory look. It always felt better to have access to a Pokémon that you just caught than to have it transported away until.

He'd nearly forgotten about the six Pokémon rule until one of the local Yungoos that he caught earlier was beamed off into the nearest Pokémon storage device. But as satisfying as catching Pokémon was, he still hadn't found any one that really caught his attention.

On the bright side, this gave him more Pokémon to donate to the new Capture Masterprogram that pleasantly surprised him in this world when he first visited one of the local Pokémon Centers.

With the discovery of a new region and a desire for more international cooperation and mingling, the Pokémon League started the Capture Master incentive program at the Pokémon Centers in every region for any Trainers, Coordinators, Breeders, and the like to donate their unused and unwanted Pokémon to the League itself.

As unfortunate as it was, some Trainers simply didn't mesh with the Pokémon that they captured and giving them up to the League was better than releasing them into the foreign wilds in typical cases. Others simply enjoyed catching every other wild Pokémon that they came across. Vermillion fell into the latter category as it was. Sometimes, this would end up with loads of Pokémon being stuck in storage, unused and sadly forgotten.

The incentive gave these Pokémon a home in the form of things like foreign exchange programs, starting Trainers that weren't blessed with a close proximity to a Pokémon Professor's lab, Gym Pokémon training programs, and even more opportunities.

On the other side of things, the previous owners who donated them earned points that could be redeemed for various rewards. It was a win-win situation.

Catching just about everything you fought was better than leaving the fainted Pokémon to be eaten by their predators in their vulnerable states, at the very least.

While Vermillion personally wouldn't mind training every single Pokémon he'd caught thus far, and in the future, he simply had a different vision for the time being. He wanted to create a standard six-mon roster first before he thought about expanding. Still, he didn't hold back on catching at least one of every Pokémon species he came across and sending them to the League.

Vermillion could feel that they had big plans for the future and he didn't mind helping them out the little bit he could while he traveled and saw the sights that the world had to offer.

" _Vermillion, I think I see something moving in the bushes over there."_ Joltik said from his eagle-eye perch atop the young man's head.

He glanced over at the shrubbery and trees that Joltik indicated with his Aura Sight activated and smiled, when he noted two unique energy signatures moving about in a sea of green.

It looked like they were in a small scuffle of some sort.

"Right you are, Joltik. Let's hide and take a look, shall we?"

" _Yes sir!"_

Vermillion hopped into a nearby tree and waited patiently for his subjects of interest to reveal themselves.

In but a few brief moments, they did. First, an Oran Berry rolled out of the bushes, bouncing along the ground and coming to a stop. It was soon followed by a larger ball hurtling out of the grass as a much higher velocity.

He could tell that one of the Pokémon in the bundle of action was somewhat insect-like with a green and red coloring, trapped within the larger frame of its opponent. Said combatant was more lizard-like in its features, grey and black in its body while a design in red ran down its back and to the tip of its tail.

The two Pokémon split from one another with another slap of contact, taking positions up across one another in the clearing. The green critter raised its arms up at ready, while the red and black lizard crouched predatorily and flickered its tongue.

Vermillion took his Pokédex out, listening idly to the brief interlude and conversation between what he understood to be members of Alola's indigenous population.

 _ **Fomantis, the Sickle Grass Pokémon. A nocturnal species, Fomantis typically sleep during the day and perform photosynthesis by spreading its leaves out. At night, it walks around in search of a new resting spot, as staying in one place for too long can be dangerous.**_

" _Would you kindly leave me alone? I simply wish to eat my Oran Berry in piece! Why are you still pursuing me!?"_ the Fomantis said in exasperation, revealing it to be female through the way his Aura translated her voice. She waved her scythe-like arms violently, shooting out multiple Razor Leaves out at the salamander.

 _ **Salandit, the Toxic Lizard Pokémon. The species as a whole is not generally powerful, but with the aid of the toxic and disorienting gas it emits from the base of its tail, it can battle in a ferocious and cunning manner by throwing its opponents off balance. Salandit females are capable of releasing pheromones that attract males of any species and can evolve, unlike the males.**_

" _Why can't you just share with me, little miss? I swear, I don't bite…too much,"_ the Salandit remarked coyly, also female.

The lizard whipped its tail forward and discharged a Smog of toxic gases towards the Grass-type, which ferociously deteriorated the incoming blades of grass and threatened to engulf the Fomantis.

Vermillion noted at this point that an inhibiting gas pervaded the air around the clearing, likely poison left behind by the Salandit as they previously moved through the area. It explained why the Fomantis appeared to be wavering in place. Yet even given the type disadvantage and debilitating conditions, a fighting fire stayed alight in the mantis's eyes.

Vermillion grinned. Their relationship would have to be worked out later, but well…

"Joltik, let's make this a three-way battle. Electroweb towards the Salandit and see how they react."

" _Roger!"_

Both Trainer and partner made themselves known, jumping out of the trees and into the clearing. Before Fomantis and Salandit could even fully react to their appearance, Joltik's attack was already halfway to its target.

The salamander leapt backwards and snorted, letting out a puff of fire from her snout and setting the web on fire. She was caught off-guard, however, when the fire simply phased through the construct of electricity and hastily dodged.

She shrieked as the remaining web still caught part of her body and delivered a strong shock to her system.

" _Ooooowch!"_ the Salandit emphasized, moving back into battle position with a slightly-noticeable decrease in speed. _"Oh great, we ended up finding a Trainer and…an electric spider?"_ she said, lowering her voice to a mumble. " _I don't think the Matriarch ever mentioned that species…"_

The Fomantis also turned to observe the newcomers with a critical eye. _"This is never going to end, is it?"_ she sighed. _"Is this just how it was meant to be? As good a chance as any, I suppose…"_

The mantis stopped there and took the opportunity to recover her condition a bit. The flower bud on top of her head opened out and spurted a bit of sparkling golden powder. The Aromatherapy did its job as a light green glow moved up and down her body and the powder settled into her skin, curing her poisoning.

" _Oh, it still really hurts!"_ the Salandit whined pitifully off to the side, hissing. Her body shook in anger as her eyes snapped open. _"That really gets on my nerves!"_

The air around the salamander seemingly heated up as she opened her jaws and a ball of churning purple energy formed inside. With a flick of her head, Salandit launched a Dragon Rage at Joltik. The ground in between them was ripped asunder by influence of the violent energy and speed at which it traveled.

Joltik jumped out of the way easily enough, however, but stayed within the cloud of smoke that the explosion threw up. Vermillion chuckled at the cheeky move.

Having lost one potential target, Fomantis took her next action on account of an unsettled grudge. She darted towards the Salandit and launched a barrage of furious cuts, nicking and slashing the lizard all over the body.

Salandit dodged backwards nervously, unable to toy with the mantis as much as she did earlier due to the Electroweb not long ago. The scythe-like arms of Fomantis were starting to hurt more and more with each strike. She desperately released gas from her tail as she retreated, hoping to create enough leeway to make an escape.

"Joltik, Spider Web now."

Almost as soon as Vermillion said it, Joltik sprang out of the cloud of dust. The spider laughed as he shot a web that entangled both of his targets in one fell swoop. He darted forward and piled two Thunder Waves into the bundle of bodies for good measure, before running back over to Vermillion.

"Nice job, little guy," Vermillion said, rubbing a finger on the pleased Bug-type's small head.

As he walked closer, he could hear the two Pokémon bickering.

" _Now look at what you've done,"_ Salandit complained. _"You could've gotten over yourself for a few seconds and let me get away from the trainer first before attacking, you know! Now we've both been captured and it's all your fault!"_

Fomantis smirked. _"So you say, which only fills me with joy. Unlike you Salandits, we Fomantises don't colony together often. As such, I deemed it prudent to find a Trainer sooner or later if I was to ever become stronger without a relatively high chance of being eaten by someone like you. Since you decided to be pest and hunt me up until now, it only felt right that you should be captured as well."_

Salandit was left speechless for a few moments before absolutely throwing a tantrum, wiggling around as well as she could. _"Why you little –!"_

Before she could continue, a Pokéball bounced into her head and captured her successfully, settling on the ground.

Vermillion picked the capsule and slotted it onto his belt with a chuckle. "I think some time to calm down would be prudent for her, don't you Fomantis?" the young man said as he peeled the spider web off of the mantis and picked her up.

The pink-eyed Grass-type blinked a few times before tilting her head curiously, now brought face-to-face with her would-be Trainer.

" _Hello?"_

"Hi," Vermillion responded with a smile. "My name's Vermillion. You mentioned you were in search of a Trainer?"

" _That would be correct!"_ Fomantis nodded before gesturing at the orbs on his belt. _"Will you be capturing me soon? You are the first human I have encountered since leaving home. It would be a weary journey to find another!"_

"Sure, but I thought I'd ask you a question or two first," Vermillion said as he took a seat on the ground and placed the mantis on his leg. "So, you said you wanted to get stronger?" An affirmative nod. "But do you understand the dangers that you might face while doing so?" Vermillion inquired. "Many Pokémon have to deal with the threat of predation in their lives. Cowardice has little place on most paths to true strength."

Fomantis pondered the question for a moment before returning an answer.

" _I would not say that I am unwilling to face danger. On my journey here, many a time have I crossed blades with my fellow Pokémon, both those seeking a meal and others on a journey such as mine. I have overcome each trial along my path, yet I also acknowledge my own frailness and inability._

 _While I have considered sequestering myself away to safer places and training in isolation until a time when I can protect myself more aptly and truly temper myself, I opt to seek another future._

 _I have heard of the greatness that one can accomplish under the tutelage of humans. I also know that seeking out a Trainer can be a greater risk than I would sometimes face living naturally, should said human be an unkind and dangerous individual._

 _All in all, I do not hope my time with a Trainer to be free of peril, I simply hope for a better opportunity."_

Vermillion smiled at the answer. "That's definitely one way of approaching it. Happy to have you on the team, Fomantis." He grabbed a Pokéball and held it out in front of the mantis-like Pokémon.

The Grass-type closed her eyes and bowed with her blades crossed. _"The honor is mine."_

She tapped the button on the orb and disappeared inside, shaking only once before the Pokéball made its usual sound of confirmation.

" _A new team member?"_ Joltik asked, hopping up and down in excitement.

"Maybe two if Salandit cooperates," Vermillion said with a pleased expression. "She seemed like an interesting one."

With his two newest and promising acquisitions, the young man decided to head back to the closest Pokémon Center and check up on which Pokémon he would be giving away.

It was a good day and thankfully so, given that he planned on moving on. They were heading out to the next region tomorrow, in fact.

But first, he had an appointment to keep with Samson Oak and Professor Kukui.

…

A young boy with black hair and brown eyes rolled around on his bed with a strange expression on his face. It almost felt surreal.

His birthday was just on the horizon and in four and a half months, he would finally be off on the Pokémon journey he'd always hoped for.

He'd even made plans with one of his childhood friends to travel together for at least the first stretch of the journey, lest any change in their plans separated their paths. It was looking to still be amazingly fun, anyway.

But then, why did he feel so strange, so detached? It felt like nothing in the world was really _enough_ for him right now, in fact.

There was no questioning when it started. Around half a month ago, when he was in the middle of watching a re-run of the year before last's Indigo Plateau Conference Finals, he suddenly felt faint and collapsed. The last thing he heard before blacking out completely was the worried cry of his mom.

And while he slept, he dreamt. Or perhaps, it was more appropriate to say that he saw visions. He watched as he set off on a grand journey, the likes of which were too vivid to be pure imagination. He watched excitedly.

A departing Pidgeot and a forgotten promise. An abandoned Charmander, later Charmeleon and Charizard, with flames that grew hotter and hotter until, for a long time, he could no longer control it.

Other moments of a life he supposedly led flashed before his eyes, all the way up until his first performance in a major tournament. The Indigo Plateau Conference. His excitement rose to a fever pitch, plummeting when he saw his forfeit in the Round of 16. Was this all he amounted to, despite all of his passion?

From there, everything was more erratic. He traveled through regions he'd never known of and seen Pokémon he'd never seen before. He challenged Gyms by the dozens, traveled with amazing friends, and even saw Legendaries in all of their breath-taking beauty and awe-inspiring might.

And of course, he could never forget his life-long companion that he'd seen all throughout. Pikachu.

When he awakened, he couldn't help but feel as if everything he'd just experienced was a reality. Yet even that was fleeting, as they soon became nothing but fragments and flickers in his mind. It was if nothing had ever happened.

But something had changed.

After his mom was finally reassured that the TV wasn't what caused his brief episode that left seemingly no side-effects, he was finally allowed to watch Pokémon competitions, battles, and programs again.

Even just sitting there on the couch and staring at the television screen was different from before. He could no longer watch a battle between a Nidoking and Magneton without a myriad of questions bombarding his mind.

What Types were they composed of? Who held the natural advantage and disadvantage? Why did it seem as if Steel, along with the Dark and Fairy Types, drew a blank in his memories up until a month and a half ago?

Why did even the strongest of Electric-type attacks seem to have little to no effect on the purple Drill Pokémon? Was it a move or ability that allowed to Magneton to rise safely above the range of control that Nidoking held over Ground-type moves?

Which types were neutral to, weak to, weak against, strong against, and immune to one another? What moves were commonly possible to tutor to Pokémon that weren't naturally learned through their lifetimes? Which moves were so powerful that they could also only be taught either manually or by example?

Questions that never occurred to him before suddenly plagued his thoughts. He had an indescribable urge, one he'd never felt before. From then on, he took to visiting the local library and Professor Oak's lab for books and articles on anything he could find both Pokémon and League related.

He felt that passion wasn't enough anymore. For the first time in his life, he wasn't satisfied with just _watching_ Pokémon and wondering how they worked. He needed to _know_ as much as he could.

Since then, he'd felt better, but he still didn't feel quite right which brought him to here and now. After thinking about it long and hard, he realized what the issue was.

He had to _wait_ four and a half months too many, as far as he was concerned. He wanted – _no_ – **needed** to be on his Pokémon journey right here and now. Two light thuds on his desk snapped him out of his thoughts.

He sat upright on his bed and glanced over his desk. He walked over and took a seat, confused when he found two books that seemed to appear out of thin air. One was a shimmering blue and black in coloring and marking, while the other was a nice burnt red with eye-catching golden linings and lettering.

Any concern he had over their sudden and unexplained appearance was replaced by a bourgeoning sense of interest.

The red and gold book was comically titled _An Idiot's Guide to Becoming a Pokémon Master: Red Edition_.

He flipped to the table of contents, discovering that the book was primarily divided into three sections:

 _Pokemon League Rules and Regulations: includes Competitions, Tournaments and much more!_

 _Bonding 101: The Needs of Your Partners!_

 _Tips and Tricks – Trainer Edition!_

As boring as he found reading books even now, something about the two simply beckoned for his attention.

"Ash, dinner will be ready in a few minutes!" his mom called from downstairs.

"Ok mom, I'm coming!" he shouted back, grabbing the red book as he got up.

He'd take the opportunity to ask his mom about the books and get started on reading this one after dinner.

He'd get around to the other one later. The title, _The Tale of Sir Aaron, the Aura Guardian, and his Faithful Lucario,_ seemed pretty interesting at first glance, at the very least.

…

Vermillion smiled as he watched Ash close the door behind him with the first gift in hand. He leapt away from the tree he was perched in and began darting through the region now that his job here was done.

"Try to keep up, guys. Just let me know when you can't handle it anymore, all right?"

" _Yessir! /Of course. /Aw, I thought we were done…"_ his three Pokémon echoed back.

Vermillion chuckled as he continued hopping slowly along in the trees, keeping a watchful eye on his little trainees. He idly hoped that the gifts he left for Ash would be enough to stimulate the potential that the boy had.

Arceus had apparently given the trainer-to-be a little helping hand back around when he first woke up in Unova, but the effects of said aid were apparently widely-varying from past experience.

So, Vermillion had seen it fit to put together one book to help the boy out with a few helpful things to know as a Trainer. The other book was both a novelization of Sir Aaron's life and an Aura artifact created by himself to potentially awaken the talent for Aura that the boy held.

Whether that seed bore any fruit would be seen in the future.

The rest was up to Ash himself. No great Trainer was ever created out of being baby-sat.

As for himself, he had a package to deliver to Professor Elm. He'd stopped by Professor Oak's laboratory already with an Alolan Vulpix egg from his cousin, only to be beset with another delivery request.

He didn't really mind, however, as he was planning on stopping by the Johto region anyway in case any of the local Pokémon caught his eye.

" _Oh, I give up!"_ one of his Pokémon cried out melodramatically, currently withering on a branch a few paces ahead. _"A body as frail and fair as mine was never meant for such strenuous activity. Please rescue me, oh Trainer of mine!"_

Vermillion smiled wryly as he dipped down and plucked up his Salandit from the branch she was relaxing on. He glanced at the lizard Pokémon who was now resting in his arms, only to laugh when he saw that she was blinking coyly at him.

"You're really determined about the strangest things, aren't you?"

The Salandit smirked before raising her snout pompously. _"Strange? We simply have different perceptions and priorities! As the Matriarch always said, there is never a bad male to practice our charm on! Whether it be that darling little spider as we train or you, my dear Trainer, prime targets exist everywhere."_

"Fair enough," Vermillion responded, having developed an understanding of how Salandit and their evolution Salazzle functioned as a community.

What Salandit was saying fell along the lines of what the trainer community had gathered as regular behavior, but his senses told him that his particular Pokémon believed otherwise.

"You know, we haven't had the chance to talk yet, unlike the others," Vermillion remarked, noting that Fomantis and Joltik looked like they could still keep going for a while. "Why don't we have a little chat now?"

" _My, how forward of you, my Trainer,"_ Salandit responded, closing her eyes and twisting her head to the side. One eye slid open to see that Vermillion was still staring at her, unfazed. _"Very well, I shall humor you."_

"Great! So, you've mentioned this Matriarch figure many a time now. Why don't you tell me a bit about her?" Vermillion asked with genuine curiosity.

The Salandit sighed and nodded, crossing her little arms across her abdomen. _"Well, as you likely know, Salazzles tend to form harems of male Salandits for themselves. With the sparseness of females in our species and our relatively low population size, it's simply how it turns out. Eventually, in the myriad of children that Salazzles produce, a few will turn out to be female, as the basic laws of nature dictates._

 _There's typically two ways that turns out for the newborn females. In the first case, they get shunted out of the community by the dominant Salazzle, which thankfully, I was not victim to. In the second case, the female Salandits are groomed and taught by the eldest Salazzle, should there be more than one in the community at the time._ "

"Being born into the second explains why you quote the Matriarch all the time," Vermillion stated. "But then, why does it seem like you don't personally agree with half of the things you say?"

Salandit opened both of her eyes and gazed curiously at her Trainer for a moment before shrugging. _"I have absolutely no idea what you're talking about,"_ she replied innocently. _"I live by Matriarch's teachings and you shan't hear otherwise from me."_

Vermillion shrugged as well, rubbing the salamander's head gently. "Well, I won't pry if you don't feel like talking about it. I'll be here if you need me though."

" _So you are,"_ Salandit responded neutrally. _"Never imagined needing to explain myself to a human, I'm sure you understand. We were always under the impression that humans couldn't truly comprehend us, after all."_

"A fair view to have. People who both have an affinity to Aura and manage to awaken it aren't exactly common," Vermillion chuckled.

They continued along in a peaceful silence for a while, following Joltik and Fomantis from behind so as to help them if anything came up. Salandit watched her nonchalant Trainer wordlessly for a few moments before opening her snout to speak.

" _Well, if you must insist on knowing more about me, I can spare some information at the very least,"_ Salandit remarked. _"Perhaps the reason as to why I was not safely within my community will satisfy your urges. It started with simple curiosity. For some time, I was satisfied with my life. The male Salandits were at my beck and call, willing to fetch anything I wanted or do whatever I wished for my amusement. Unlike the others, I lost interest in that lifestyle."_

Salandit made an expression of distaste. _"The novelty of being treated like a queen wore off very quickly, you see? There was no excitement in a life of being pampered. Even when I wanted to do something on my own, there would be an attendant here or there to try to take the 'burden' off my oh-so-delicate shoulders. There had to be more to the world than just that sheltered life that I lived. A larger stage in life that I could find my place on. So, I left the community and wandered, until I found Miss Swordswoman over there. It was…fun, unlike anything I imagined,"_ she smirked. _"I wasn't going to eat her if I did win, truly. I don't think I would have had it in me. But, alas,"_ Salandit waved her little arms elegantly. " _That's all you will get out of me this time, Mister Trainer."_

Vermillion smiled. "Thank you for indulging me, Salandit." The Salandit huffed matter-of-factly.

Thus, they continued.

…

After another day of travel, Vermillion landed with a soft thud on the outskirts of New Bark Town, patting a bit of dirt off of his pans.

Joltik and Fomantis were currently perched on his shoulders, while Salandit smugly lay on top of his head.

Vermillion located the Professor's lab after a bit of walking around and some help from curious residents of the town. He unceremoniously let himself in through the door when he finally arrived.

"Hello! Is Professor Elm in at the moment?" he asked as he walked in.

"I'm over here!" a voice that seemed muffled answered from elsewhere in the lab.

Vermillion headed over the source of the sound as he looked around at the lab. Papers, boxes, and trashcans were scattered all over the place in a very messy manner, not seeming like a Pokémon Professor's lab in the least. He also noted that there wasn't a single aide present on the premises.

"There's something strange going on here," Vermillion whispered to his Pokémon. "Keep your guards up."

He received affirmative answers from all three of them as he neared where the answer originated from. He found a large pile of papers stacked on top of a humanoid figure.

"Professor Elm?" Vermillion questioned.

"Uh, yes, that would be me," the figure answered, seemingly struggling to get out of his prison. "Would you mind helping me out of here? I'm in a bit of a predicament here, as you can see. You must be the Trainer that Professor Oak sent to help me, yes? You arrived earlier than I expected, thankfully so," he rambled slightly.

"Yes, my name is Vermillion. Pleasure to meet you, Professor Elm," the young man responded with a laugh as he started peeling off the papers stuck to the man.

Fomantis and Joltik hopped off of his shoulders and dutifully helped, shredding the papers wherever they could reach. Salandit waved her tail peacefully, her head down and seemingly asleep.

It wasn't long before the glasses-wearing Professor was released from his impromptu prison, along with his Sentret who had been curled up with him.

"What did this to you, Professor Elm?" Vermillion asked, curiously feeling a chunk of the papers with his hands. The way that they adhered to one another wasn't natural or man-made.

"A Misdreavus, actually," the Professor answered straight-forwardly. He gestured to his companion. "Sentret hasn't been trained to the point of having any moves that could affect the devious Ghost-type, so we were simple prey for it. I sent my aide home until the matter was settled, since he was getting pranked just as badly, actually."

"The local police couldn't do anything about it yet?" Vermillion asked. "And where did it come from?"

"No, since it never shows itself when Officer Jenny comes around," Professor Elm sighed. "Even I only catch fleeting glances before it bombards me with trash or anything of the like. As for its origins, it simply came wandering in a few days ago. It's actually quite an impressive specimen, as it seems unusually adept at Psychic manipulation for the species as a whole," the man observed. "It would be best for you leave soon, before it tries to bother you as well. A shame, I see that you have Pokémon from the Alola Region with you. A…Salandit and Fomantis, is it? I'd love to learn more about them, given the opportunity… The breeding habits of a Salandit, in particular, are quite unique among the many Pokémon in the world."

Vermillion nodded in understanding. Professor Oak hadn't been lying when he said that the man had a habit of making long speeches.

Regardless, he slung his backpack around to his front and dug out the package that he was here to deliver. "Here's the Oval Charm, as requested."

"Wonderful!" Professor Elm remarked with excitement, opening the package and confirming the little bauble's appearance with his own eyes. "This will, presumably, be of great help towards my research. I can't wait to give it a go…once this Misdreavus grows tired of bothering me."

"Actually, I think I can give you a bit of help on that front," Vermillion said with a small laugh, one eye suddenly flashing a dark blue color. "Salandit, Joltik, now."

Salandit instantly rose on top of his head and pounced forward, spitting a small ball of fire from her mouth into the air. A sobbing cry sounded out as Misdreavus appeared in the middle of room, with tears in the corners of her eyes which were closed in pain.

Joltik, who snuck to the opposite side of the Ghost-type before it even all began, shot a Spider Web out at the Screech Pokémon, who recovered and reacted intuitively to the incoming projectile. Its yellow and red eyes glowed with blue energy, which covered the incoming web and threw it to the ground.

"Unusual aptitude for Psychic energy, indeed. Good reaction as well," Vermillion hummed. "Don't let that get you down, little guy. Salandit, you can leave the rest up to him now. Good job."

The salamander nodded lazily and crawled back to her Trainer. She was promptly picked up and placed back on her perch atop his head.

Joltik continued the fight in the meantime. He made use of his own minor, innate aptitude in Psychic energies to Disable the Misdreavus, preventing further usage of the previous move and immobilizing it for a brief moment. He promptly launched an Electroweb at the Ghost-type, who was moving too sluggishly to dodge.

With a sharp shriek, it fell out of the sky and towards the ground, only to be met halfway with a Pokéball. The orb shook two brief times before coming to a rest and confirming its capture. Vermillion walked over to his newly acquired Pokémon and hitched the ball containing it to his belt.

"Not bad," the young man smiled. "Would you mind if I kept Misdreavus for my team, Professor Elm?"

The Professor shook himself out of his daze and readjusted his glasses. "No, of course not, go ahead," he said with a shake of his head. "But may I ask, how did you know the Misdreavus would be there? I never even suspected its presence, yet you seemed quite confident."

"When I first made my way over to you to free you, I had Salandit releasing a subtle Sweet Scent into the air," Vermillion explained, walking back over to the Professor. Salandit snickered deviously and proudly. "Sentret and you likely didn't notice it because I told her to control the dosage and spread, but it was enough to bait out Misdreavus. The rest was a healthy dose of luck and, well, everybody has some secrets to keep."

Professor Elm nodded in acceptance of that, instead focusing on the strategy he utilized. "Impressive work!" he praised with a thankful smile. "Now I can continue my research in peace and call my aide back. However, I should give you a token of my thanks for helping me out, first with the delivery then with Misdreavus. What to do, what to do… Ah, yes! One moment, I have just the thing!"

After a few minutes of waiting for the Professor, the man returned with a box of glimmering stones, insisting that he take a set of the evolutionary stones. Vermillion felt like an entire set was a bit too much, so he bartered the Professor down to only gifting him a Sun, Moon, Shiny, Dusk, Dawn, and Ice Stone.

Any attempt to exchange one of them for a more common stone was met with fervent disapproval, so Vermillion simply conceded the point. After being given the Professor's lab number and a promise to keep in contact about the unusual Misdreavus, he set off for the next leg for his journey.

After a sweep through a part of the Hoenn region for some potential final members of his first six-member roster, he would head off to Sinnoh and start his Pokémon League challenge.

His blood boiled at the thought.

…


	4. Chapter 4

**Pokémon: A New Verse**

 **Chapter 4**

In a cave on the side of a cliff near Littleroot Town of the Hoenn region, a brown-haired girl covered in dirt lay peacefully on a bed of grass with her Torchic resting at her side. She was dressed in a skirt made out of long blades of grass leaves and an upper garment made of tree leaves.

An alarm next to her resting place started to ring suddenly, reminding the girl to get up. Her eyes snapped open and she sat up straightly before walking over to the edge of the cave.

"Today's the day, Chic," she said to her companion, pumping her arms heatedly. "We'll finally set out on our Pokémon journey and show prissy boy that battling is the way to go!"

Torchic chirped vigorously in response, bringing a smile to her Trainer's face. _"Yeah, we'll show him!"_

The girl nodded and clicked her Pokéball, returning the Chick Pokémon inside before diving off the side of the cave entrance. She plummeted downwards with a laugh and landed in a small lake with a great, big splash.

On the surface of lake, the remains of her clothing floated up to the top in shambles from the impact. Under the water's surface, the girl scrubbed idly at her skin, lightly washing off the grime that had collected, before swimming back to the surface and climbing onto the shore.

She grabbed a towel hanging on a nearby branch and dried herself off briskly. Next, she took a change of clothes from the backpack next to the same tree and put them on, now dressed in a stylish blue and black outfit with white and black gloves. She tied a blue bandana onto her right arm and let out a sigh.

The girl patted at her clothes with one hand while idly rubbing a single streak of blue in her hair, mumbling, "Well, at least he's good for one thing…"

The girl shook herself out of her daze and released from Chic from her Pokéball. The two met eyes and started running back to Littleroot Town. She didn't want to be late for their meet-up.

…

On the other side of town, a family was currently saying their farewells to their eldest. An eight-year-old girl, a five-year-old boy, and their mother were saying goodbye to their elder brother/son.

"Take care and don't forget to call," their mother said cheerfully. "And good luck with your Contests. I'm sure you'll perform fabulously, honey. Ah, if only your father were here to say goodbye."

"I'm sure I'll catch him when I pass by Petalburg City, mom," he said with a dry laugh. _'Yea right, I'm in and out of that place as fast as I can be… It's better if dad doesn't see me before I have my first five Ribbons minimum.'_

"Don't forget about us, big brother!" the girl whimpered, her eyes watering. "I'll miss you lots! Make sure to come and visit, okay?"

"That's a promise," the elder boy laughed, ruffling his sister's hair as he re-adjusted his hat. He moved to the side and bent down in front of his little brother with a smile. "And what about you? Any words for me?"

"Yeah right," the blue-haired boy scoffed for a moment before rubbing his nose embarrassedly, "But, uh, good luck and don't do anything stupid."

The elder boy chuckled and straightened up before flourishing his hand and posing. "Of course not, how could your elegant and wonderful brother possibly do anything without beauty."

"Maybe by acting like an idiot and making a fool of himself all the time," another voice answered.

The elder boy nearly stumbled before turning around, his face slightly twitching. "Well, if it isn't my un-cultured neighbor. How was living the life of a wild animal for you?" he remarked scathingly.

The girl scoffed and walked up to him with her shoulders straightened out, butting her head against his. "Quite fun, actually. Maybe if you weren't so scared of a little dirt, you'd be less stuck up your own ass about beauty!"

The boy didn't dignify the sentence with a response, instead opting to push his head back against hers and growl…'elegantly'.

"Mom, shouldn't we stop them?" the younger sister asked, swearing she could see electricity crackling between her brother and their neighbor's eyes.

At the sound of her voice, the elder girl ducked her head to the side, leaving her rival-of-sorts to stumble and catch himself. "May, remember, don't let his bad habits get into your head. While he's gone is the perfect time to stop walking the dark path of a Coordinator and become a Trainer like me! You too, Max!"

The blue-haired, bespectacled boy nodded eagerly at the words of his role model. The brown-haired girl was hesitant, however.

"Don't listen to this witch," her brother shouted, shoving her out of the way and firmly grabbing onto his sister's shoulders. "Being a Pokémon Coordinator is a perfectly respectable profession, no matter what anyone says! Don't let her lies smother your dreams."

May simply nodded her head nervously, quickly glancing to her mom and asking for some help. Caroline decided to step in at this point before the two who were soon to set off on their first Pokémon journey didn't get held up for too long. Poor Professor Birch was probably already waiting at the lab for his daughter and her son.

"Sapphire, Ruby, you two should probably get going soon! You wouldn't want to keep the good Professor waiting for too long, right?" Caroline laughed as she ran forward slightly and stopped her son and potential daughter-in-law from butting heads again.

Every time she saw the two clashing so adorably, she could hear the wedding bells ringing. She let out a little sigh as she brought a hand to her face in thought of little grandchildren running around and giggling.

Seeing the familiar strange expression on Caroline's face, the two rivals shuddered and decided to get going. They rushed off into the distance with their Running Shoes™, not forgetting to wave back as they left.

"Bye Ruby, bye Sapphire!" the remaining family of three shouted to the pair disappearing in the direction of Professor Birch's lab.

When they finally stopped waving, Max saw a shadow moving quickly across the ground and looked into the sky for a hint at the source.

"Mom, May, what's that?" he asked, pointing out a blur passing overhead.

"I'm not sure, honey," Caroline responded before making an 'Oh, my' expression. "But it seems like it's heading in the same direction as your brother and Sapphire."

"Do you think it's a Pokémon?" May asked.

…

On a ship heading for and nearing the Hoenn region, a raven-haired boy wearing a nice orange and black shirt with black athletic shorts was standing on the deck, gazing out at the landmass that they approached.

" _Why didn't we ride a ship before, Vermillion?"_ Joltik asked with a pleased sigh as he nibbled at a provided bowl of berry mix while sitting on a Joltik-sized cushion. _"This is the life."_

" _I must agree with the little one,"_ Salazzle giggled, relaxing into a small sun chair, fixing her sunglasses, and drinking some berry juice. _"This level of comfort is just right for me…"_

Vermillion smiled wryly with a shake of his head. "Well, don't get used to it. Professor Elm might've insisted on giving us a ticket for the ship this time, but we would've been here faster if we just ran…"

" _Complacency will dull your blades,"_ Fomantis hummed in agreement from atop Vermillion's shoulder, her arms crossed. _"It would not do for my rival to weaken due to something as simple as leisure."_

" _For the last time,"_ Salandit replied with a tired sigh, _"I'm not your rival! Find someone else to harass about it!"_

Fomantis turned slightly, her eyes glinting as she pointed a sickle at the salamander. _"I shall redeem myself, wicked one. I have not forgotten the humiliation I suffered at your feet."_

Salandit let out an exasperated sigh. _"Whatever, you crazy mantis."_

Vermillion chuckled before walking back to Joltik and Salandit. "Well, sorry to cut your time short, but I'll be returning you guys to your Pokéballs for now. I'm going to try and to have a little one-on-one with Misdreavus."

The spider and the salamander whined for a second before getting over it and consenting. Fomantis had no issue in the first place, so the three Pokémon were subsequently returned to their little sub-space homes.

Vermillion tapped the button of the fourth Pokéball on his belt, releasing the resident into the air in front of him. When the red light solidified, he found himself looking directly into the red and yellow eyes of Misdreavus.

The human and Pokémon had a staring contest with each other for a solid minute before the Ghost-type blinked first with a giggle.

" _Wow, you're good!"_ she laughed, floating around in a small circle before coming to a stop on his shoulder. She peeked over to his face from there. _"So, you're my Trainer now?"_

"Yep," Vermillion confirmed with a chuckle. "Nice to meet you, Misdreavus."

" _Nice to meet you too!"_ she chimed happily. _"But I have something very important to ask you!"_ Misdreavus said seriously, floating in front of his face and butting her forehead against his.

" _Do you like pranking people?"_

Vermillion grinned.

"Who do you think you're talking to? Let me show you the intricacies of a master Prankster."

…

Chaos ensued on the ship. It was small things at first.

An unassuming woman who came out of the shower screamed when she realized her hair had been dyed a very interesting mixture of neon yellow and lime green, though she discovered that it didn't look half-bad once she calmed down.

The source of the sabotage was discovered to be her modified shampoo by the on-ship security.

In another room, around thirty minutes later, a rich kid touring the regions with the money of his parents cried up a storm as he realized his brand-name conditioner forced his flowing, golden locks into the shape of an _afro._

Oh, the horror!

The incidents didn't stop there. By the fourth set of passengers who found their wardrobes either dyed various colors or replaced entirely with Pokémon costumes, the security team knew that the previously isolated incidents were the work of something much more threatening than they could have imagined.

A serial prankster. Maybe even a team of the foul demons!

The first thing the security team did was check on each passenger to see if they were unaccounted for and whether or not they were likely to be the heinous individual behind these crimes. Yet even this task was hindered.

One member of the security team was taken down when he first attempted to stand up after sitting down for the initial strategy discussion. With a mighty rip and tear, the fabric on his buttocks was ripped off, revealing his teddy-bear underwear. He ran off to his bunk in shame.

The other members of the team didn't laugh at their comrade, however, for they were guilty of wearing similar underwear and actually felt more united now that it was revealed. Instead, they focused on the fact that the prankster had set their sights on them.

Now, they had to proceed with even more caution.

The second victim was taken even more violently and suddenly than the first. As they left the meeting room in single file, as was traditional, the last to exit was bombarded in both the torso and back of his pants with berry pies. The man let out a wounded cry as he was felled by the deadly berry-age.

He reached his shaking hand towards his horrified teammates with a grimace on his face.

"G-go on…w-without me!"

He needed to go get a change of clothes, after all, before his pristine uniform was stained too deeply. He also needed to hope that his spares hadn't been replaced.

The security team continued through the ship, intent on capturing the culprit. Jane and Geoffrey, a policewoman and policeman who had been dating for about six months now talked as they continued along.

"Geoffrey, I'm scared," Jane shivered. "What if…what if they get me? What if I can never see you again…when my hair is ruined?"

"No!" Geoffrey cried, putting his hands on her shoulders. "Don't say that, Jane! I'll never let you go, no matter what color your hair is dyed!"

"Geoffrey!" Jane cried happily, eyes watering.

"Jane!" Geoffrey said with an affectionate smile.

However, just as quickly as the two found some happiness in this dire situation, disaster struck. In their brief conversation, some distance had created between them and the rest of the security team.

And in that small gap, a shadow approached the back of Geoffrey's head. A look of horror appeared on Jane's face, alerting to Geoffrey that something was wrong. He turned around swiftly, but the shadow was already upon him. He closed his eyes and spread out his arms, hoping that he could at least protect his loved one from the oncoming threat.

The feeling of a lithe figure shoving past him nearly shattered his will. Jane, in a burst of speed, pushed her beloved aside and brought her arms up as quickly as she could, intent on taking that bullet for Geoffrey instead.

A bang sounded out in the hallway, turning the heads of the security team members further ahead

"Geoffrey! Jane!" one of them cried out. "Crap, move, move, move! They need reinforcements!"

But it was already too late. When they arrived, Jane was downed on the ground and in the arms of a sobbing Geoffrey. Her arms were limp on the ground and her face turned away from them, unmoving.

Brian, Geoffrey's best friend, approached the distraught man slowly and put an arm on his shoulder.

"Geoffrey, I'm sorry. If only I was paying attention, this…"

Geoffrey simply shook his head, his tears flying all over, before raising his head up to the ceiling and shouting outwards to release his emotions.

"JANEEEEEE!"

As his arms loosened and the woman's head fell into his lap, the rest of the security team caught a glimpse of her face. They averted their eyes in horror, unwilling to look at what had become of poor little Jane, the newest member of the squad.

Her face had been painted a myriad of colors: blue, green, red, yellow, purple, you name it. It was one giant mess that was removable, yet never forgettable. And perhaps as one finishing, mocking touch, above her upper lip, was a pristinely drawn-on, brown mustache.

With this final loss of one of their own, the dispirited security team returned to their rooms and hoped that it would all end soon.

…

Meanwhile, back in one of the many passenger rooms on the ship, a disembodied head was rolling on a bead and laughing her soul out along with her Trainer.

Vermillion wiped a tear out of the corner of his eye and let out a satisfied sigh.

"I feel kind of bad about that last one, but once they wash all the paint off, I'm sure their relationship will be more secure than ever. I really didn't expect the policewoman to push her boyfriend out of the way and take it for him.

" _Haha, yeah! That was really fun. I liked throwing the pies at the second one, the splat sound that they made was super satisfying."_

Vermillion nodded before grabbing his backpack and standing up. "Right? Do you understand what I meant now?"

" _Yep!"_ Misdreavus said with an eager nod. _"Pranks can be plenty of fun without hurting people!"_

Vermillion gave the Ghost-type a thumbs-up and gestured for her to get in his backpack for a little bit. She nodded and plopped herself comfortably inside as the young man left his room with a whistle.

As he walked to the deck, he passed a rich boy with an afro who was observing himself in a mirror with a thoughtful expression.

"This might be the next fashion statement that the world needs…" the boy mumbled.

When Vermillion made it onto the deck, he spotted the people with Pokémon costumes and rainbow-colored clothes who had gathered together and put on a little play for some of the kids on board. He walked over to a side of the ship where nobody was watching and leapt off, peaking into a porthole as he did.

Inside, he spotted the security team gathered together and bonding over some drinks, while the couple were affectionately holding one another on the side.

Vermillion smiled as he landed on the surface of the water and darted off towards the town that was in sight. He dipped into the water and re-surfaced on a nearby beach before heading towards the city from another angle, just in case anybody happened to discover him.

Misdreavus phased out of the backpack and re-appeared next to him at this point, still giggling joyfully.

"So, how did you end up in Professor Elm's lab?" Vermillion asked idly as he jumped onto a nearby roof. Walking around in the streets was a bit inconvenient for talking to his Pokémon and nobody ever looked up, anyway.

The Ghost-type followed along while shaking her head around playfully. _"The human with the glasses and all of the technology?"_ she asked. _"Well, I used to live in Mt. Silver with a few other Misdreavus and the other Pokémon who were nearby. But, they kicked me out recently so I wandered around until I met you!"_

Vermillion made a confused expression. "Kicked out?"

" _Yep,"_ Misdreavus hummed, not seeming to care very much. _"I didn't really mind. All the others ever wanted to do was go out and find humans to scare!"_ the Ghost-type said, sticking her tongue slightly. _"But I didn't think it was very fun, so I never went with them. And they never wanted to prank the other Pokémon with me either, so I pranked them a few times to see what it would be like. When they had enough of me not fitting in, they 'kicked me out'. They couldn't actually do anything because I was stronger than them, but I left anyway since it was boring."_

The young man nodded in understanding. "So, what do you want to do now? I can let you go, if you want me to," he offered. "I don't want to force you to stay if you'd rather keep wandering around."

" _Nah, that's fine,"_ Misdreavus giggled mischievously, glancing at her Trainer as she floated in front of him and continued moving backwards. _"I was getting bored of just trying to find a place to stay anyway. Besides, you seem like fun. Wanna be friends?"_

"Sure," Vermillion laughed, holding a hand out. "My name is Vermillion. Nice to meet you."

The Ghost-type floated closer and grinned. Her 'hair' wrapped around and grasped onto his hand before shaking it emphatically. _"Cool! We'll be besties! We can prank people, and then prank Pokémon, and then prank more Pokémon…and people!"_ she said excitedly, floating off to the side and into the middle of the street.

Vermillion smiled. "Are we only going to be pranking?"

Misdreavus made an 'o' expression before lowering her head in thought. _"Oh, I know!"_ she laughed with a stroke of inspiration. _"We can hang out, and then prank ourselves! Oh, but Trainers like battles, right? So, we could battle and prank our opponents during them too!"_ she gushed.

Vermillion tilted his head slightly, smiling wryly. "Well, she's focused for sure."

As they continued traveling atop the roofs, the young man kept track of the ideas that Misdreavus were discussing while he planned out how long he would be staying in Hoenn and where he would want to visit. Meanwhile, the Ghost-type continued floating around in random patterns in the middle of air as she spoke.

When she floated just far enough away from him to be out of the Pokéball's return range, Vermillion was alerted to a movement out of the corner of his eye. A Pokémon that had been resting on a nearby roof suddenly made a move.

Vermillion sighed as he kicked off of the rooftop and leapt towards Misdreavus. While he didn't like having Aura Sight active all the time due to how taxing it could be in cities and how much less fun everything was when he saw it coming, he really didn't like risking the safety of his companions. It seemed his concerns weren't unfounded thus far as well.

Misdreavus made a yelp of surprise as Vermillion grabbed her out of mid-air and pulled the Ghost-type into his arms.

" _What's going o- Oh!"_ she said in surprise as she noticed the Pokémon that had been trying to ambush her.

Specifically, the _three_ Pokémon who had been trying to ambush her. Three Honchkrow were basically right on top of them at this point, wings pulsing with dark purple energy and slashing them downwards at her and her Trainer.

Vermillion scoffed and waved his hand in the air, leaving behind a barrier of energy that flashed green as the three Night Slashes connected with it. The Honchkrow squawked in indignation as they were pushed backwards, unable to break through the shield.

" _Ey, what's the big deal?"_

" _You're a human, see? Humans ain't supposed to be able to move like that, see?"_

" _Get back here!"_

The Big Boss Pokémon cursed as they dove down to chase their prey.

Vermillion twisted in the air and prepared to land, but not before shouting "Watch out below!" as he did. He'd spotted a pair of kids running towards his landing zone.

Ruby and Sapphire heard the voice and instinctively dodged to the sides, watching as a person plummeted into the ground and kicked up a cloud of dust. Another trio of cries brought their heads up to spot the three Honchkrow diving down in pursuit.

Their hands went to their Pokéballs to fend off the Dark/Flying types, but the following flurry of motion proved that gesture unnecessary. Their ears barely registered a few instructions being spewed out in the cloud of smoke before four Pokémon darted out of the cloud of smoke, leaving trails behind them.

Joltik stopped and channeled electricity between its small mandibles intently as the other three continued moving. Misdreavus giggled as she projected four phantoms in her own image from the largest orb on her necklace into the center Honchkrow.

The large bird honked in confusion as it suddenly flew off-course and collided into the left Honchkrow, creating a pile of tangled bodies. The remaining Honchkrow squawked in irritation as it continued alone.

" _We'll get you for that one, see?!"_

Fomantis and Salandit rushed the remaining one, planning on intercepting the bird. The Honchkrow flapped its wings forward, shedding glowing feathers onto the Grass-type.

" _Come at me, ya little mantis!"_ the Honchkrow said confidently, waiting for the effects to take place

Contrary to the bird's hopes, Fomantis's body glowed red instead of blue from the effects of Feather Dance, increasing her offensive capabilities. Her scythes flashed red as she hacked violently at the Honchkrow who squawked in disbelief. Her Fury Cutter grew stronger and further-reaching with each strike.

Salandit continued moving past the big bird now that Fomantis had it under control, but not before spraying some Sweet Scent and kicking some sand back into the general vicinity. Honchkrow's movements and counter-attacks became more muddled, while Fomantis's strikes became more on-point.

The salamander snickered. _"You know, Swordswoman's Ability was unbelievably annoying when I was fighting her, but it's nice to see somebody else on the receiving end."_

Salandit took aim and reared back before unleashing a volatile ball of flame from her throat. The Flame Burst exploded on the pair of Honchkrows that were still struggling to untangle themselves from one another, rewarding the Toxic Lizard with a pair of cries and the scent of burnt bird.

Misdreavus joined the salamander's approach, her eyes flashing red. Rather than using her telekinetic force on either of the birds, who would be immune to her powers as Vermillion told her, she grabbed a nearby trash can and tossed it at the left Honchkrow who hadn't been confused.

While it still wasn't confused, it definitely had a fierce headache now. Salandit took the extra time they'd earned to spray a cloud of Poison Gas into the downed Honchkrows, which was followed by a Hex from Misdreavus onto the middle Honchkrow that she initially used Confuse Ray on.

" _All right, that's enough of that!"_ the Honchkrow screeched together.

" _Uh oh,"_ Misdreavus remarked. _"I think they're mad!"_

" _Retreat!"_ Salandit screamed, heading back first.

Misdreavus followed giggling, as did the two maddened Honchkrow. As they passed by Fomantis who was slowly becoming disadvantaged by basis of type and natural power, the mantis joined them in their escape while the Honchkrow she'd been battering joined the chase angrily.

Focused entirely on the three small ones they were intent on hunting down, they forgot about the last one. As the three Pokémon split to the sides, they were stopped with the sight of a small Joltik with a disproportionately large yellow ball in front of his mouth.

They could see a sly smirk emerge on the spider's face as it launched the ball, which quickly ballooned into a large web of electricity. They did stepped back as rapidly as they could, but when they turned around, they were simply blasted in the face by a cloud of Smog, courtesy of a snickering Salandit.

The following electrocution was something they hoped they would never experience ever again, which was thankfully cut short by a Pokéball contacting each of them. They made the wise decision to stay inside their Pokéballs and didn't even struggle.

The entire exchange didn't even take two whole minutes. Vermillion walked out of the smoke and over to the Pokéballs before tossing the one that was disabled into his backpack. The other two were simply slotted onto his belt until he could free them up later.

Ruby and Sapphire were still standing on the sidelines, captivated by the same battle for different reasons.

It was obvious by how the four Pokémon were celebrating together that the teen next to them was their Trainer. The execution of and speed at which the skirmish was carried was simply amazing to her, even with her own life experiences and watching the highest-level of battling she could find online. Official battles went up to 3 vs 3 at best, however, and the difference that one extra Pokémon could make was fascinating. And while the Pokémon themselves were definitely to be praised for their capabilities, it all reflected back on the young man who enabled it.

He had to be a good Trainer to have such well-coordinated Pokémon. Sapphire was determined to at least get his name. A Trainer like him was sure to be some sort of amazing, even if obscure, figure in the Pokémon world.

Focused on a different aspect at hand, Ruby couldn't help but fawn over the appearances of the four Pokémon that he had the pleasure of seeing in real life for the first time. While Joltik and Fomantis held appearances that initially screamed 'Cute Contests' at him, there was an air of solemnity and pride around the mantis that caught his attention and a resilience that one wouldn't expect such a small spider to have, matching up with a hidden Cool and Tough attribute respectively. Meanwhile, he could see the potential that the elegant Salandit and playful Misdreavus held, especially with his knowledge of their evolved forms' appearances.

He made a habit of knowing the beauty and appeal of as many Pokémon as he could, after all.

The sharp and ferocious dance that Fomantis put on in her fight against her opponent. The confidence and willpower that Joltik displayed in his role of exceeding his limits and charging an amount of energy that went well-beyond the expected ability of his species. It made him _almost_ like the idea of battles, if they could always be executed in such a controlled and appealing manner.

Their Trainer had be an amazing Coordinator. If not, there was still a style to the battle that he felt was unique and interesting. Ruby was set on getting to know the young man at least.

The pair quickly made their way over to the young man, who turned towards them with a sheepish expression and a hand scratching the back of his head.

"Hey there," Vermillion said in greeting. "Sorry for almost dropping onto you two earlier. My name is Vermillion."

"Oh, that's no problem. My name is Ruby," the boy answered with a smile before waving a hand at the girl next to him. "This is my neighbor, Sapphire."

"What happened with those three Honchkrow?" Sapphire asked curiously. "Why were they chasing you?" She looked back at where he came from. "For that matter, where did you come from?"

"Ah, I was travelling across the rooftops to practice my parkour, you see?" Vermillion explained, quickly weaving a little white lie. "I'm new to the region, just arrived on a ship, so I got excited at the sight of a new city to test my skills on. Misdreavus, here," the Ghost-type smiled in greeting, "was following me along, but the Honchkrow attacked her at some point. I dove after her to protect her, since she was out of my Pokéball's return range, and the rest was as you saw."

The two kids nodded in acceptance of that, given that Sapphire enjoyed doing similar things and the Ruby was accustomed to it because of the former.

"Well, it's good that you had it under control," Ruby said cheerfully. "But that was some really impressive battling! You must be a famous Trainer or Coordinator of some sort, right?"

Vermillion shook his hands and head with a chuckle. "No, nothing of the sort. I'm actually a rookie. It's only been around two months since I started. I've been travelling since to figure out what I want to do with my career, actually."

Ruby and Sapphire were internally surprised at that, but didn't let it show.

"We're actually just starting our Pokémon today, coincidentally," Ruby responded.

"Yes…speaking of which, I think we're a bit late," Sapphire remarked after taking a glance at her Pokégear. "Hope dad hasn't been waiting for too long."

Vermillion found that bit of information interesting, but before he could say anything, a shout sounded through the air.

"Sapphire! Ruby! There you are!"

"Oh, speaking of," Sapphire laughed.

Vermillion turned to see a bearded man with a lab coat and satchel running over, stopping in front of the trio and taking a second to catch his breath.

"I was waiting for the two of you to show up, but it was taking a while so I thought I'd come and look for you," the man said, wiping a bit of sweat off his brow before patting his satchel. "I brought the starters and your Pokédexs along so you could just take your pick wherever you were." He noticed the additional person and held his hand out in greeting. "Oh, hello there! Excuse my manners. My name is Professor Birch!"

"I'm Vermillion, it's a pleasure to meet you sir," he responded with a smile. "Don't mind me, please continue with your business."

"I take it you've met my daughter and Ruby already then," Professor Birch said with a smile. "Wonderful! Ah, yes. While the subject is on my mind, have any of you three, by chance, seen a trio of Honchkrow hanging around or making trouble?"

Vermillion smiled wryly while Ruby and Sapphire just looked at him.

"Yes, we have actually."

…

While Vermillion recounted the story of their encounter with the trio of Honchkrows, the small group made their way to the Professor's lab. By the time they finished, Vermillion was sipping a cup of tea across from Ruby and Sapphire after handing the three Pokéballs containing the Honchkrow over to Professor Birch.

"I really am sorry for the trouble they caused you," Professor Birch said with a sheepish expression. "We never imagined that they would cause such issues when we first imported them over for habitat adaptation research. We'll take care to keep a closer eye on any Pokémon we release so this doesn't happen again."

"It's all right Professor, it wasn't really your fault," Vermillion laughed. "If I hadn't been jumping around on the roofs, they probably wouldn't have even ended up targeting me and Misdreavus. In fact, I need to apologize for delaying Ruby and Sapphire here so long from starting their journeys."

"No, no," Ruby said suddenly, waving his hands, "It really wasn't much of an issue. Just seeing the battle made up for it."

"Yea! Besides, only prissy boy here needs to get his traditional starter Pokémon," Sapphire snickered while letting out her Torchic. "I already have Chic here, so I've only been waiting for my Pokédex."

" _Hi there!"_ the Chick Pokémon chirped happily in greeting.

"Hello to you too," Vermillion said with a smile.

Despite how general the response had been, Torchic couldn't but feel as if the new human had understood its words. It quickly shunted that thought to the side in favor of walking over to the other Pokémon who were hanging out nearby. They looked pretty interesting.

Ruby groaned. _'Did you have to call me a prissy boy in front of a near-stranger?'_ he thought in frustration before glaring at Sapphire.

Professor Birch let out a laugh. It wasn't anything he'd never heard before. "Regardless, I must give you something for helping me re-capture the Honchkrow. Is there anything you'd like in particular…?"

Vermillion shook his head. "No, I couldn't take anything from you Professor, it really wasn't much."

"What if I insist?" the man chuckled.

The younger man just shrugged and looked around a bit before spotting something that would do. "In that case, do you have any spare flashlights I could have? I plan on visiting Granite Cave at some point and it escaped my mind to pick one up. It should be useful in the future, as well."

The Professor nodded, understanding that the young man probably wouldn't accept anything more. With that mind, he set out to find the best flashlight he could shove onto the Trainer with a smile.

Watching the man walk away on his quest, Vermillion let out a sigh of relief.

"Sorry about that," Sapphire giggled. "My dad can be a little pushy when he's determined."

"Oh, it's no problem," Vermillion responded, waving it off. "Saves me an extra trip as well."

"The apple doesn't fall far from the tree," Ruby remarked before snickering.

Sapphire smacked the boy on the arm and the duo started bickering. Vermillion chuckled and scanned the two briefly before turning his eyes away. It was just his luck that he'd meet two kids who gave him the same feeling that Hilbert did not too long ago.

The tug in his gut that told him that the world had more in store for them than they had any reason to expect. He sighed, as it seemed there were far more players in this little game of life than there were when he first traveled through this world.

While he didn't mind the extra allies, it was the new enemies that concerned him a bit more. The world was a volatile one, after all. From past experience, Rocket would be the first one to make a move but he needed to make sure he was ready for just about anything.

New regions typically meant new evil schemes, for example.

With that in mind, he walked over to the PC in the lab and withdrew two Pokémon that had been relaxing in his personal storage. He turned back to the still-bickering pair with a smile on his face.

"Sapphire, Ruby. I have something for the both of you. A farewell gift, if you will."

…


	5. Chapter 5

**Pokémon: A New Verse**

 **Chapter 5**

" _So, where do Pokémon go when they get put in storage?"_ Joltik idly wondered as the waves passed under them. _"The Pokéballs are nice, but is that what the PC is like?"_

Vermillion smiled wryly at the question. Unlike his past life where he didn't really question it since Professor Oak kept his Pokémon at the ranch for him, this version of the world seemed to thankfully have an answer to that and the Pokéball question.

"To my understanding, the marvel known as the Pokémon storage system is managed by the Pokémon League organization. Each of the 'boxes' that we see displayed in the PC have a corresponding habitat run by League officials in locations not known to the public, for obvious reasons. Alternatively, if you have enough land in the real world and people to receive them for you, your Pokémon can be transmitted to a particular location to be cared for."

" _Oh really?"_ Joltik asked. _"Does this 'League' thing have enough people for that?"_

Vermillion shrugged. "I guess you can't underestimate the human population. Anyway, I could be completely wrong, but it's as plausible an answer as any."

" _Understood, captain!"_ the spider said, saluting as best as he could without falling over. _"Land ahoy!"_

Fomantis and Salandit perked up and looked into the distance, spotting the island as well.

Misdreavus circled happily at his side. _"Is that where you wanted to go, Vermillion?"_

"Yes, that should be the island where Dewford Town and the Granite Cave are located," he replied, checking his Xtransceiver's map for confirmation.

" _Ah yes, it escaped my mind before, but do you happen to be searching for a specific Pokémon this time around?"_ Salandit giggled. _"You've mostly just stumbled upon us so far."_

"As a matter of fact, I am," Vermillion responded.

" _For you to seek it out actively, it must be an impressive specimen,"_ Fomantis said somewhat eagerly. _"A worthy sparring partner, no doubt."_

"You could say that," Vermillion replied.

" _Well, don't keep us waiting!"_ Joltik whined. _"Can it please be a male? Please, please, please? I'm already outnumbered!"_

The young man laughed. "Always possible. They're native to the Hoenn region, so I figured we'd look here first. We're searching for a Mawile. I'll show you guys a picture I got from Professor Birch so you know what they look like once we get on land."

…

Vermillion adjusted his flashlight idly, making sure to only cast a dim light into the surroundings. He didn't want to disturb the residents of the cave too much by irritating their eyes.

"You'll have to make do with that, Salandit."

" _Fine,"_ the salamander sniffled in a wounded manner. _"You all and your special eyes. Unfair, I say."_

Vermillion chuckled as his eyes flashed blue, casting the cave in a myriad of colors that marked the Aura signatures of all the scattered Pokémon. Joltik, Misdreavus, and Fomantis scouted up front due to either formerly living in darkened habitats for the first two and being nocturnal in the latter's case.

The young man walked around here and there as they continued deeper into the cave, picking up scattered objects from time to time. The salamander on his head squinted her eyes to try and make them out, but he moved them into his bag too quickly.

" _What exactly are you picking up?"_ Salandit asked. _"I trust you have more sense than to pick up random rocks and stones."_

"Just the occasional Trainer supplies," Vermillion answered, taking out a slightly-scratched, but still usable, Potion bottle from his backpack to show to her. "Some Trainers walk into here without the proper equipment and when they get run off by the Pokémon, they drop things or forget to take their items with them. No point in letting them go to waste."

" _Hm… Well, why haven't any Pokémon approached us so far?"_

"I don't think any sane Pokémon would want to pick a fight with us when you and the other three are all out at the same time."

" _Why don't all Trainers make use of this strategy to go unhindered, then?"_

"Well, if they come in here looking for Pokémon to fight and catch, scaring them off seems a bit redundant, don't you think?"

"… _I suppose, but surely not being run off is better than finding one or two Pokémon when exploration can yield goods and treasures then?"_

"Trainers have varying thought processes and intentions. It's not my job to question their methods," he responded nonchalantly.

"… _I suppose. Humans are strange creatures,"_ Salandit finished with a sigh.

"Couldn't agree with you more," Vermillion chuckled.

The young man then noticed his little spider hurrying back quickly.

" _Vermillion, we found a Mawile,"_ Joltik said in a panic. _"She, or he, looks hurt, but we're not sure. The other two are guarding him, or her, right now."_

The levity on his face was quickly replaced with a serious expression. He picked Joltik up briskly and placed him on his shoulder before darting along the cave, avoiding rocks and cracks easily. His Aura Sight revealed the figures he was looking for not far ahead.

Fomantis and Misdreavus relaxed just as quickly as they'd tensed when they realized that the source of the sound was their Trainer. They parted the way for him to inspect the seemingly wounded Pokémon.

Vermillion walked up to the Mawile who was face down on the ground slowly. When his hand met its side, it flinched reactively but remained otherwise unmoving. The imposing jaw-like horns moved slightly, worrying his watching Pokémon.

The young man slipped one arm underneath the Pokémon's body while his other hand pulsed a pink glow. He gently shifted his hand forward, projecting a wave of Aura into the Mawile, which now started moving slightly as its bruises and wounds faded. He grimaced in discomfort as his life energy siphoned away.

With less resistance from its body, Vermillion successfully turned the Steel/Fairy type over on his arm. Mawile's red eyes flickered open as it stumbled out of his grasp, weakly coming to stand on its own. It brought a hand to its face as it smiled.

" _Thank you for your help,"_ the Pokémon said slowly, its head lowered.

Vermillion felt the air suddenly change and tensed.

" _I really didn't think any Trainer would be willing to approach personally. I applaud your bravery…or is it stupidity?"_ Mawile suddenly laughed, raising its head and revealing a cruel gleam in its eyes.

Mawile's large steel jaws swung forth ferociously, opening wide to take a big Bite of Vermillion's arm. The young man swung his hand and met the Pokémon's bottom jaw with a palm surrounded in orange energy. Mawile's expression shifted into one of surprise as it felt its jaw lose all momentum and force.

Vermillion channeled the absorbed power through his body and carried it through to his other palm, which slammed into the Mawile's body and blew it back a couple of steps. It took no damage, however, as a green barrier faded from in front of the Deceiver Pokémon's crossed arms.

" _Well, that's something you don't see every day!_ " the Mawile chuckled. " _A human using Counter? Whatever. I'm surprised you feel for my trap given the reputation of my species."_

Vermillion closed his eyes and pursed his lips in thought for a moment, before raising a hand. "Right. Do you happen to be male or female? Your voice is relatively androgynous and I can't quite make it out."

" _That's what you're focused on?"_ Mawile asked with a hint of disbelief. It shook its head. _"I'm male, you imbecile."_

"Thanks," Vermillion smiled. "Anyway, how did you end up injured here?"

Mawile brought a hand to its face in frustration before letting out a deep sigh.

" _I didn't think another human could be so infuriating,"_ he groaned before sneering. _"What makes you think I'll tell you?"_

Vermillion shrugged. "Worth a try, yeah? Anyway, since you don't seem like the most sociable fellow, we'll just get going."

" _That's it? After my sneak attack on you, you'll just walk away?"_ Mawile questioned. _"Well, I won't let you walk away just like that. If you do, I'll pester you until you leave this cave. What will you do then, Trainer?"_

"A battle it is then," Vermillion shrugged. "Misdreavus, you're up."

" _A-all right, let's go!"_ Misdreavus cheered nervously.

She couldn't help her state of mind from deteriorating given the intimidating aura of her opponent this time around. It wasn't like last time, when they always had the Honchkrow on the back-foot.

"You'll be fine," she heard reassuringly as a gentle hand rubbed her head. She turned to meet Vermillion's grinning face. "I won't let you get hurt, okay?"

Misdreavus nodded emphatically and courageously advanced forward. Mawile made the first move, rushing forward as it swung its jaw and whirled up a gust of glittering Fairy Wind towards the Ghost-type.

She floated out of the way with a yelp and decided to launch a Confuse Ray towards the approaching Deceiver Pokémon, given how effective it'd been in the last fight Her four phantom manifestations had no issues phasing into Mawile and creating illusions in its vision, but it was yet to fully inhibit him.

" _Enough petty tricks!"_ the Steel/Fairy type Taunted. A dark red glow appeared around both of their bodies as the move took effect, forcing Misdreavus into floating towards him and attacking. Mawile let out a smirk as it readied its jaws to Crunch down the Ghost-type.

"Sucker Punch to dodge," Vermillion called out. "Distance yourself and then Ominous Wind!"

Misdreavus nodded as she dove into the ground and came out underneath Mawile's head before slapping him with a small fist made of white energy. Mawile attempted to finalize his Crunch on the Ghost-type, but failed as he stumbled due to the strange angle and the disorientation from Confuse Ray took its toll.

The Screech Pokémon took this brief moment of respite to gain distance and blow a gust of purple, repulsive wind which buffeted the distracted Mawile strongly enough to push him back two steps. The Steel/Fairy type shook its head angrily and cleared its mind, snapping out of confusion.

" _All right, that's enough!_ " Mawile roared, quickly generating and launching an orb of red energy from its hands, aimed above Misdreavus. The energy expanded and solidified into a rain of boulders, forcing Misdreavus downwards.

"Rock Slide?" Vermillion mumbled.

The Ghost-type bit her lip in worry as she got closer to her opponent's attack range.

"Astonish, then Taunt should have worn off by then. Confuse Ray again then!"

Misdreavus nodded and floated to the side, hoping to vanish, only to be suddenly cut off by Mawile.

" _Too bad!"_ he snarled. _"Sucker Punch!"_ Mawile shouted victoriously as his jaw swung from below and up towards his target.

"That's enough," a voice next to them suddenly said. Vermillion's figure shifted in between the two combatant Pokémon, his hand drawing a barrier of energy between them. The Protect flashed and shattered as Vermillion backed up with Misdreavus tucked safely behind him. He flinched slightly and glanced at his left arm, which was now bruised and somewhat numb.

"Looks like the healing took more out of me than I thought," he chuckled.

" _Vermillion!"_

Fomantis, Salandit, and Joltik quickly scurried over in worry, ready to provide back-up against the violent Mawile if required. Traces of anger flashed in their eyes as they locked onto the opposing Pokémon.

Said Pokémon's eyes flashed an unknown emotion as he saw this scene before scoffing and crossing his arms behind his back. He arrogantly lifted his head, contemptuously looking down at Vermillion and the Pokémon behind him.

" _You've lost,"_ Mawile declared before glancing at the others. _"Not going to send them at me, weaken me, until you can capture me yourself?"_ he remarked with a sneer.

Vermillion shook his head and noticed something behind where the Mawile was standing, near the end of this tunnel in the cave. He gestured for his Pokémon to stay behind as he walked towards the objects that caught his attention.

They reluctantly followed his orders, even as Mawile noticed what he was doing and snarled.

" _What do you think you're doing?!"_ he shouted as his jaws became infused with cold energy.

He opened them and chomped towards the human, only to be calmly deflected.

" _Stop! What are you doing? Look at me!"_

Mawile tried again and again, with as many Fang attacks as he knew. Fire, ice, and poison crashed against the human repeatedly to no effect.

" _Get away from there! Don't look at them with your filthy eyes!"_

Attack after attack he launched, only to wear himself out as Vermillion approached the end of the passageway and shined his dim flashlight towards the wall.

A pair of small, roughly-carved memorial spires were placed against the rock with a bundle of flowers laid in front of each. Vermillion closed his eyes and went down to his knees, solemnly placing a hand against the tombstones and offering his respects.

When he turned, his eyes met a pair of glowering red eyes.

" _Get. Away. From. Them!"_ Mawile snarled.

Vermillion's calm expression didn't change. "There's still a chance that they're alive, you know."

" _ **What does it matter to you, human!?"**_ Mawile shouted. _"If it weren't for your kind-!"_

"Don't you want to at least try and find them?" Vermillion said simply. "Or are you really fine with festering in your own hatred while your parents could be out there somewhere?"

Mawile stopped its tirade and glared deeply into the clear blue eyes before him. His eyes flashed as he considered those words.

…

' _Run! We'll hold them off as long as we ca-!'_

 _An explosion cut off the voice._

' _No! Dad! Mom!'_

 _A hypnotic noise forced him into a deep slumber. When he awakened, the light blinded him._

…

' _Where are they!? Why did you take me?!'_

 _They laughed cheerfully, ignorant and unable to understand. Yet their words were perfectly clear to him._

' _Man, we really scored this time! But hey, don't you think we should have caught the other two, at least?'_

' _Hah, why? I only wanted the best one, who cares about the others?'_

…

 _Truly rarely did a case like this occur, but still, occur they did. No matter what they tried, his hatred never disappeared._

 _Try and try he did._

 _Pokémon were inherently prepared to separate from the lives they once knew in this dangerous world inhabited by humans, who wished to catch Pokémon for various reasons. More often than not, Pokémon who weren't ready would never be happened upon by the humans, living safely in areas that a human would not naturally find._

 _Yet there was always an exception from time to time._

 _Try as he might, he could never forget._

 _It wasn't long before he became madly disobedient and loath to even be in their presence. Not long before he was released back into the wild, free to search for his home. By some stroke of luck, he found his way back._

 _That luck didn't help him return to his parents._

 _He fought off the other residents of the cave system countless times as he scoured it for any sign of hope. He failed. He built a tribute for his lost loved ones, soaking in his despair._

 _His anger rose to a fever pitch._

 _In his wrath and festering hatred, he drove off humans and other Pokémon, even well-wishers, by the dozens. He drowned himself in loneliness and pain, until his body couldn't take it anymore._

 _Then, he appeared. An opportunity he was willing to use._

…

Mawile's expression flickered with conflict. Vermillion waited patiently until the Deceiver Pokémon walked up to him, face-to-face.

Their eyes met and a rough agreement was struck silently between them. Mawile silently tapped the second last Pokéball on Vermillion's belt and disappeared inside. The orb settled without a struggle.

His other four Pokémon walked over, their eyes flickering with their own complicated emotions.

" _Is it okay to bring along such a…hassle?"_ Salandit softly sighed, playing the devil's advocate.

Vermillion nodded and gathered them together for a group hug and huddle.

"Everyone has a story to tell," he started somberly. "For some, it's short and sweet. They reach for their dreams. They struggle. They succeed. They fail. They persevere. But for every fairy tale, a tragedy occurs elsewhere. The most we can do is to try our best with what we stumble upon and resolve them as happily as we can."

" _What about the ones that you never meet, Vermillion?"_ Joltik asked sadly.

"I can only hope that Arceus watches out for them," he replied regretfully, staring up and out towards something intangible. "And scold myself for my inability. After that, the only thing left to do is move on with our lives until we get strong and capable enough to do something about it."

The group of four Pokémon soon retired to their Pokéballs to rest on their thoughts. Vermillion strode out of the cave all on his lonesome. The recent incident only added more kindling to his flame of determination.

He briefly flared his Aura into his eyes and scanned the island he was on for any signatures resembling Mawile's at the deepest level of congruity he could discern.

No matches.

He wiped away the trail of blood trickling down from the corners of his eyes and let a sigh out into the night sky. A gentle breeze picked up.

' _I'm sorry,'_ a voice on the wind whispered into his ears.

"It's all right," Vermillion chuckled wryly. "Time to get started."

By the time the wind stopped, he was gone.

…

"You know, I swear Sinnoh was warmer last time I was here."

" _I care very little for petty conversation, human. Remind me why we idle in this town rather than heading directly for your first 'Gym'?"_

"Still grumpy, hm? Well, I traveled light across the regions, so I need to at least buy some supplies before we continue. It's also beginning to get late, so it would be better to simply retire for the night and get started early tomorrow."

" _You will explain to me how your League challenge has any relevance towards my search once you attain a residence for the night."_

"Yes, yes. Now, since we're approaching the city, would it kill you to look a bit less combative?"

" _Something like this?"_

In a shift of appearance worthy of the title of Deceiver Pokémon, Mawile crossed his arms behind his small body, pivoted forward, and wore a cutesy look on his face. As they walked into the Jubilife streets, the Steel/Fairy type feigned curiosity and excitement and attracted the attention of a few Pokémon wandering the streets with their Trainers.

If Vermillion didn't know any better, he might've thought that Mawile was actually female like some of the poor saps that were currently eyeing the Deceiver. Instead, he simply smiled wryly and glanced once more at the Pokémon before leaving Mawile alone to his own devices and headed towards the Pokémon Center.

While he never made use of the facility's functions past its original usage during his region skimming, the Pokémon Centers all over the world seemed to have standardized upgraded their overall layout.

Nurse Joy and her healing counter remained front and foremost as it always did, while the PokéMart counter and attendant could be located in a nicely-sized room on the left side. A similar room on the right side of the center held representatives from the Pokémon League who operated the Capture Master program and a Poffin-maker machine sat neatly to the bottom right for any enthusiasts of the regional craft.

The second floor was outfitted as mini-inn that could fit eight guests comfortably and was primarily reserved for Pokémon trainers. Nurse Joy managed that side-operation with the help of some other staff.

The bottom floor, last but not least, held the Global Trade Center. Given the freedom to expand in the ground, the Global Trade Center was the largest of the three levels and for good reason. Officer Jenny served as both the attendant of the operation and in her normal role as law enforcer, a safety measure added since not all Pokémon Centers were located in towns and cities.

Her trusty partner, whoever it may be, also helped enforce the 'no lingering' policy of the Trade Center, due to the fact that even with the expanded space, only six Trade Rooms could be reasonably fit into the floor.

After returning Mawile to his Pokéball and greeting the pleasant pink-haired woman manning the desk, he signed his Pokémon into the medical center for a check-up and himself in for the last vacancy in the inn. While he waited, he headed over to the PokéMart to pick up a nice evergreen scarf, a pair of dark-orange and black gloves, and some extra scarves.

After putting on his new purchases, Vermillion headed over to the Trade Center to briefly see if any Mawiles were up for trade in the system, getting in with ease as only two of the rooms were currently occupied. Unfortunately, his efforts were fruitless, but then again, he didn't expect it to be that easily resolved.

He thanked Jenny, retrieved his Pokémon from the ever-helpful and friendly Blissey, and bid good night to Officer Jenny before heading upstairs and into his assigned room. He slung his backpack onto a provided hanger and plopped himself down onto his bed. Finally, he placed his Pokéball belt on the bedside table and tapped one of the many buttons.

Mawile materialized across the room with his arms crossed in front of his torso and an unamused expression.

" _So, your explanation?"_

Vermillion nodded. "Simply put, this journey would open up some avenues of inquiry for us. Becoming Champion would afford me a degree of credibility and access that would make it easier to ask the Pokémon League for any information it might have on individuals who've acquired Mawiles in their time."

" _How does this work any better than searching in my home region?"_ Mawile questioned.

"You know as well as I do that with our manpower, we don't have the capabilities to feasibly search every inch of the world for your parents. With the level of global interaction that's been opened up as of late, they could be anywhere. Stuck in somebody's PC storage, part of a trainer's team, offered up in the Global Trade Center, or donated into the Capture Master program. More than that even, but most of any other possibility is just out of my hands. This is simply the best way I can approach it."

Mawile let out a sigh and closed his eyes. _"As much as I could expect from a human, I suppose."_ He walked towards Vermillion's bed with a condescending smirk. _"Not as capable as I'd hoped, but it will need to suffice."_ The Deceiver Pokémon reached for his Pokéball.

"One second," Vermillion remarked before gesturing at his backpack. "I got something for you. Should be right at the very top."

Mawile glanced at the human for a moment before humoring him. He walked over to the bag and plucked a pink scarf out. He raised it with a questioning and unamused expression.

" _Is this supposed to be some sort of joke?"_

"Take it," Vermillion said with an honest smile. "It's cold out."

The Pokémon looked suspiciously between the long fabric in his hands and his Trainer a few times before shaking his head in disbelief. He tapped his Pokéball silently and disappeared inside.

He took the scarf with him at least.

Vermillion laid down properly on the bed, closing his eyes peacefully.

With that over with, he grabbed the blankets and released Joltik from his ball. The little guy preferred sleeping outside.

He settled down comfortably next to Vermillion's head on the pillow. _"How was the talk?"_

"Went just about as well as I expected," the young man chuckled as he went to grab another out of his pack, "Here, got one for you too."

Joltik happily bounced as Vermillion wrapped a small yellow scarf around him. _"Cool! Did the others get one too?"_

"Yep," Vermillion affirmed. "I'll hand them out tomorrow once we get going. Canalave City isn't too far away. You ready for your first Gym battle, little guy?"

" _Sure am!"_ Joltik buzzed excitedly. _"Say, do you think one of us will evolve soon? I really wanna see one, I heard it's awesome to watch!"_

"One of you should be due for it soon." He rubbed his chin in thought. "But evolution can be up to more factors than just training. It'll come when it comes."

" _All right!"_ Joltik cheered before yawning. _"Do you think you could tell me the story of the Super Pikachu again?"_

A fond smile appeared on Vermillion's face. "Sure. It all started one day, when the Pikachu was munching on some electrical cables near a random building he'd picked out. Little did he know, he attracted the attention of the Pokémon Professor who resided and researched in the same building…"

…

"Then one fateful day, after nearly a year of waiting, he met a young boy who had just set out on his journey to become a Pokémon Master. He was stubborn and rebellious at first, not wanting to be bound to another. He felt trapped, but he soon felt otherwise. It was the start of friendship that would change his life forever.

…

"Together, they saw sights they could never imagine, fought battles and achieved victory against all odds. He became stronger, faster, and tougher than he even imagined. Then, one day, when he felt he had reached his limits, he and his Trainer were struck by a bolt of lightning generated by the storm clouds of a passing Zekrom."

…

Vermillion let out a sigh as he stopped the tale once Joltik was snoozing peacefully. He stared out of the window and into the night sky silently and heavy-heartedly.

He shook his head, getting rid of the thoughts plaguing his mind. There wasn't anything he could do about it, so there wasn't any use being all mopey. He slid into his blanket and shut his eyes.

A dreamless night passed.

He awakened with a purpose, rousing Joltik from his slumber and gathering his belongings. Once he wrapped his thin orange scarf around his neck, they made their way downstairs before checking out with Nurse Joy.

Vermillion stopped by the PokéMart one last time, scanning the area in case there was anything he forgot to pick up. He walked over the side of a shelf and eyed a pack of gum for a second before he felt someone tapping on his shoulder.

He turned to see a young woman with a blue cap that covered her eyes and pony-tail that looped around to her shoulder. She had a blue apron with the PokéMart logo cover her front, a clipboard in one hand, and a small box held with the other arm.

"Hello!" she said with a smile and glancing at her clipboard. "Would you happen to be one Mr. Vermillion, Trainer of Jubilife City?"

"That would be me," he responded with a confused expression. "Is something the matter?"

"No, no, nothing of the sort!" she answered with a shake of the head before bringing the box she was carrying in front of her. "I've just got a Mystery Gift here with your name on it. Here you are!"

Vermillion and Joltik stared at the box for a moment before he took the box in his arms and relieved the young woman of the burden. The top did indeed have his name written across it.

He gave the box a small shake, only to hear a bit of a thump and what he thought was a voice. Joltik seemed to have heard it too and they exchanged looks.

The box shaking in his arms only heightened his suspicions as to the contents. He opened the top slightly with one hand and peeked inside to meet a pair of playfully-curved red eyes with bright greenish-blue eyelids.

" _Hi there!"_

Vermillion shut the box slowly unblinkingly and looked back up, only to find that the woman had disappeared. He looked at Joltik questioningly, who simply shook his little head in confusion.

Vermillion headed outside, box in arm, and walked out the way until he was out of Jubilife City and well into the small tree-filled path that connected, by way of gate, to Route 218 and Canalave City. Once assured that he was out of the way and no people were around, he placed the box on the ground and opened the top up. In but a moment, the Pokémon hopped out of the box and shook its body comfortably, stretching out on the ground.

It appeared to be a Joltik.

" _Gee, thanks for finally letting me out. I was starting to get cramped in there,"_ he snickered.

" _Another Joltik?"_ The spider who was previously on Vermillion's shoulder leapt onto the ground and walked over the fellow Bug/Electric type before glancing at the box. He tilted his small head curiously. _"How were you cramped in there? That box is pretty big for our size!"_

The new Joltik shrunk back nervously. _"Hehe. Uh…"_

Vermillion chuckled and walked over to the pair of Pokémon, who both turned to look at him.

"You can stop that now. You let me see your true form before, remember?"

" _Fair point,_ " he laughed.

A brilliant purple hue of light swallowed the 'Joltik', form rapidly expanding until it settled on a larger, canine-shaped Pokémon who looked up with a smile.

" _Oh…"_ Joltik made a sound of realization. _"Is this what you really look like? What's your name?"_

" _Hehe, yep, this is me in all of my true awesomeness! Anyway, I'll let Mister Trainer answer that one? If you don't even know what I am, I'm not sure I'll like you very much!"_ the Pokémon remarked jokingly.

Vermillion crouched down and chuckled. "This, Joltik, is a Zorua, the renowned and rare Tricky Fox Pokémon. He also is what's commonly referred to as a shiny variant, which are colored differently than others of their species."

Zorua shook one foot and his head to emphasize the bright blue coloring with a proud smirk. _"Doesn't it look awesome? All the other Zorua always talk about it."_

Joltik nodded his head with a gleam in his eyes.

"So, what brought you here?" Vermillion asked. "I can't imagine you normally go around stuffed in a box."

" _Well, I've always wanted to travel the world!"_ the fox said happily, waving his tail, _"So I always bugged my mom about it, right? But she never let me go off on my own cause she was worried and all that jazz. I was just about to give up, but around a week ago, she said she'd finally let me go with the condition that I got a Trainer! So, we waited around at that PokéMart until we found you!"_

"Ah, so the delivery girl was actually your mother?"

" _Yessir!"_

Vermillion nodded in thought before another question came to mind. "Why did you end up picking me in particular?"

" _Not sure, you'd have to ask my mom, if you can find her again anyway!"_ Zorua said happily. _"Either way, you seem like a nice guy so I don't need to run away!"_

Vermillion sighed. "Well, if that's fine with you, I'm not sure if I have any right to complain."

" _Basically,"_ he smiled. _"Oh right, one last thing. Now that my mom's gone, I can finally go for my dream! Do you think you could help me out with it too?"_

"Sure, I don't see why not. What is it?"

" _I want to make my very own harem!"_ Zorua exclaimed with sparkling eyes.

"…" Vermillion wasn't sure what to say.

" _What's a 'harem'?"_ Joltik asked innocently from the side. _"Is it something comfy like a pillow? Or maybe it's a delicious food…"_

" _You could say that,"_ Zorua smirked deviously. He puffed up his chest. _"See, little bro, a harem is –"_

Vermillion clapped his hand over the fox's mouth and shook his head wryly. "I'll go ahead and stop you right there."

Zorua just snickered and didn't resist when Vermillion tapped a Pokéball against his head. When the ball clicked secure, the young man placed his sixth and final Pokémon snugly on his belt.

Joltik decided not to ask again and hopped back onto Vermillion's shoulder. Just like that, they continued along in the cold Sinnoh breeze towards Canalave City.

His first gym badge was only a day or two away.

…


	6. Chapter 6

**Pokémon: A New Verse**

 **Chapter 6**

 _In a remote clearing just past the Jubilife gate of Route 218, a young man and his six Pokémon are training together in preparation for the Canalave City Gym. The sun shines down upon them as their Trainer dishes out ideas._

"All right, we'll start with Double Team today everyone. Joltik, Salandit, Fomantis," Adrian spoke, calling the three Pokémon to attention. "You'll practice together and use the set of ditches that I made over there. Your job is to dash around as quickly as you can on the spots that are traversable without falling in. To truly master the technique, you need to be able to incite the energy within yourselves and generate the burst of speed necessary to create afterimages of yourselves."

" _I'll do my best! /As you command. /Do I have to?"_ the three said together in differing tones.

Adrian glanced at the salamander with a grin. "Fomantis, you have my permission to pursue your rival as fiercely as you can once the exercise starts."

The mantis saluted with a gleam in her eyes while Salandit groaned and slumped her shoulders.

The young man continued. "Zorua, Misdreavus. Rather than relying on speed, you can focus more on energy manipulation for the task. Concentrate and project at least three illusions in various positions around you and you'll have succeeded. Don't slack on your personal agility though, as Double Team can be rendered ineffective by certain strategies and Pokémon."

" _Oh, that sounds useful for a lot of things,"_ Misdreavus giggled mischievously.

Zorua grinned. _"That sounds super easy. All I'm hearing is more illusions!"_ he said, raring to go.

Adrian shook his head, laughing internally. "Do your best, but don't be discouraged if you find it harder than expected. Feel free to come to me if you need more advice at any time, but try to work things out amongst each other first. I'll leave a demonstration here as an example and guideline."

He took a disc reader and small screen combo and set it up on the ground. The five Pokémon watched patiently as Adrian slotted a TM disc into the reader and an instructional video played on the screen.

"You guys should be all set. Remember not to overdo it and that I'll be testing you on this later! Misdreavus, we'll be doing a bit of special training together after lunch for the upcoming Gym!"

After receiving affirmative noises from the gaggle of Pokémon, he left them to their own devices after that and walked off to the tree where Mawile was watching with his arms crossed.

The Steel/Fairy had a mixture of curiosity and contempt on his face. _"That is a Technical Machine disk, is it not? Why would you waste your time with letting them figure out the technique themselves when you could simply implant the knowledge into them and be done with it?"_

Adrian took a seat on the ground and watched as his other Pokémon started their exercises cheerfully.

"Because of you, actually," the young man answered. "I recall you using Rock Slide and Protect back in Granite Cave, right?

Mawile gazed at him suspiciously. _"Yes, you are correct,"_ he answered curtly.

Adrian nodded. "You should know from experience then. While Silph Co. did their best to make the process as un-invasive as possible, having knowledge suddenly appear in your mind isn't comfortable. Outside of that, learning the move artificially doesn't extract the true potential of a technique and Double Team is a relatively simple first step for them to take in learning new moves, as well as being generally useful."

Mawile nodded his head and conceded the point, but another thought came to mind. _"From what I've gathered, the others are the first Pokémon you've ever trained. Even with your ability to speak to Pokémon, how would you know anything about what a TM feels like to us when you've never given them one before?"_

"You have your secrets, I have mine," Adrian answered simply.

" _Whatever,"_ Mawile scoffed. _"Why haven't you ordered me around yet?"_

"Precisely because you're not very receptive to the idea?" Adrian chuckled. "How about, instead, you practice on mastering the moves you already know? Your Fang attacks and Rock Slide looked shaky at best."

Mawile growled before schooling himself. " _Is that a challenge, human? Your taunts will not get to me."_

Adrian shrugged and got to his feet. "They might not, but how about an offer? You can practice your moves on me."

The Deceiver Pokémon grinned toothily at that. _"Now that sounds appealing."_

…

" _Shouldn't we stop them?"_ Misdreavus asked in concern. _"What if he gets hurt soon? That'd be really bad!"_

" _Negative. Adrian directed us to complete the exercise and it would not feel right if we were to interrupt before my rival completes the task,"_ Fomantis answered as she continued chasing Salandit around. _"Perhaps the rest of you could inquire towards continued instruction as a means of intervention?"_

" _Please, don't stay behind on my account,"_ Salandit huffed wearily. _"Feel free to leave at any time!"_

Fomantis didn't dignify her with a response. Zorua perked his head up.

" _You know, I'm kind of hungry. Do you think he'd stop to make us a snack?"_ the fox asked.

" _Definitely,"_ Joltik answered, his stomach grumbling too. _"That's a good idea. Onward!"_

The group of three scuttled over to where Adrian was, carefully standing on the sidelines. They took a minute to admire the otherwise-unbelievable sight.

While Mawile was a bit testy, he followed the rules that were set down at the beginning. He would only make use of Rock Slide and the three Fang moves that he knew: Fire, Ice, and Poison.

When the Deceiver made use of the Rock Slide, Adrian would dodge. When he attacked head-on with his Fangs, the Trainer would deflect.

As boulders rained from the sky, the raven-haired young man would dodge in and out of the rocks, dashing around with astonishing speed for a human. It was a distressing sight for the more faint-hearted members of the audience, yet not even the most dangerous of the exercises.

The real danger came in the energy-enhanced chomps that Mawile fiercely delivered. His jaws crackled, sizzled, and roared as they collided against Adrian's fists and arms. The latter sight would have concerning if it weren't for the protective blue barriers that coated his limbs as he knocked the jaws away time and time again.

The biting ice, corrosive venom, and hungry flames licking at his arms didn't seem to even faze him. And while they somewhat expected the mixture of disbelief, anger, and infuriation that showed on Mawile's face, his accompanying bloodthirsty smile was a tad disturbing to the younglings.

The Steel/Fairy type's mood seemed to only be improving his control over his attacks, at least. When they looked over initially, the orb of energy that he needed to activate Rock Slide was unsteady where it was now firm and concentrated. His Fangs from before didn't have the edge and luster to their appearances that they now did.

" _You know,"_ Joltik mumbled. _"Adrian always did say, 'With the right motivation, even the laziest, most stubborn person can be productive and hard-working.' I wonder if this is what he meant."_

Misdreavus shuddered. _"I hope not… Wouldn't that mean that they're just as scary?"_

" _Don't worry guys, Mawile wouldn't be able to do anything to you if I bedazzled him with my illusions!"_ Zorua said confidently.

Misdreavus and Joltik shared a disbelieving glance before moving on. _"Adrian, we're kind of hungry! Could you make us some food?"_ the spider shouted into the clearing.

Mawile glanced over, but only saw red. He readied another orb of energy in his hand.

Adrian shook his head as he darted forward and slammed a palm into the Steel/Fairy's chin. He vaulted over his back and kicked down, plunging the Pokémon's head into the ground.

While Adrian had the chance, he decisively shattered the Pokéball that originally contained Mawile and threw a new ball at Mawile in one motion. The ball struggled three times before Adrian could pick it up again. By the time he did, the gang of three who had been watching hurried over.

They stared at the new Pokéball and collectively let out a sigh of relief.

"What's wrong guys?" Adrian asked curiously.

" _Oh! When we saw you break Mawile's Pokéball, we got really worried!"_ Joltik explained after catching his breath.

Misdreavus peered at the new Pokéball that now held Mawile. _"What is that exactly?"_

"This?" Adrian said, tapping the green and red Pokéball with a smile. "It's called a Friend Ball."

" _A Friend Ball?"_ Joltik said with a shiver. _"The ghost stories my mom used to tell me talked about Pokéballs that would brainwash you into being friendlier to Trainers! It's not true, is it?"_

Adrian chuckled and patted the little spider on his head. "No, it's not. The Friend Ball's just designed to be more comfortable than the average Pokéball. It's therapeutic, if you will. I thought it might help Mawile relax a bit more, but I worry for its effectiveness against him. Either way, we'll see later once he has some time to calm down."

The three Pokémon nodded in understanding, but Zorua's growling stomach reminded them of what they came here for in the first place.

" _Food! /Food! /Food!"_ the three Pokémon cried out.

Adrian laughed and started walking back to where Fomantis and Salandit were.

"All right, all right. How does your favorite Seasoned Berry Mix sound?"

…

Once their brief lunch break was over, Vermillion continued through the route, crossing the body of water that split the path by hopping across the rocks that jutted out from the water. Some of the other trainers swimming in the water or surfing across watched with strange looks as a Joltik cheered joyfully from atop the young man's head.

Once he set foot on land again, he released Fomantis, Salandit, and Zorua to stretch and walk the rest of the way. Misdreavus phased out from his bag and they were on their merry way. Just as they approached the gate leading into Canalave City, however, a young boy carrying a net and a man holding a fishing rod beckoned for his attention.

"Hello young man, do you have a moment?" the Fisherman asked.

"Sure, what's up?" Vermillion asked in a friendly manner.

"My name is Robert, and this is my son Thomas," the man said with a pleasant smile, shaking the teen's hand. "We see that you have a team of five traveling with you at the moment and were wondering if you might have a sixth as well?"

"I do, why?"

"Awesome!" Thomas shouted excitedly, turning to his dad before looking back. "Would you please fight us in a Double Battle then? We've been out here all day, looking for travelers to challenge! But every one we've met so far hasn't had enough Pokémon for a full challenge, so we haven't had any luck."

"We'd really appreciate it," Robert laughed. "Maybe I could offer some information about the Canalave City gym leader in exchange? You seem like the kind of trainer who'd be aiming for the League Conference."

"That sounds like a good deal," Vermillion responded with a smile. "Shall we?"

The father-son duo hi-fived in celebration and the group moved off of the road and into a clearing nearby.

"Salandit, Fomantis, you two are up first," Vermillion called out after scanning the area a bit. "Let's see how you two do together."

" _Ugh, what did I do wrong in my past life?"_ Salandit groaned.

Fomantis crossed her arms intently, sharpening one scythe-like arm on the blade of the other. _"I pray that this will be a good challenge!"_

Robert and Thomas exchanged glances at the other side of the clearing and nodded, releasing their first duo simultaneously.

"You're up, Tentacool!"

"Show them what you're made of, Mothim!"

Being his first time seeing the two Pokémon, Vermillion quickly scanned them with his Pokédex before putting the device away and considering their move-sets. He smiled and gestured.

"Why don't you guys start it off?"

"With pleasure!"

"Mothim, let's get it started with a Quiver Dance, then Gust!" Thomas ordered.

"Tentacool, cover for him with Bubble and Toxic Spikes!" Robert said as a follow-up.

"Fomantis, Defog then get in close on Tentacool with Leafage! Set up with Salandit as she covers with Sweet Scent and Flame Burst!" Vermillion responded.

Mothim acted first, glowing white and dancing mysteriously around in the air as it buffed itself. Tentacool watched Fomantis's movements intently and spat an orb of corrosive energy into the air, which shattered and began to fall down to the battlefield.

Before the Toxic Spikes could settle into the field, Fomantis swung her arms and released multiple light-blue crescents towards the opposing team. The crescents passed through the descending corrosive traps and dispelled them before landing onto Tentacool and Mothim, burdening them ever so slightly and slowing their movements.

Tentacool released a fierce screen of bubbles next, slamming against Fomantis who advanced despite the pain. Now that she was in range, she leapt and spiraled in the air, releasing a small whirlwind of glowing, sharp leaves towards Tentacool. The attack also popped the remainder of the bubbles that were previously heading towards Salandit.

"Tentacool, dodge back and use Acid Spray!" Robert called out in concern.

"Not so fast!" Vermillion chuckled. "Fury Cutter!"

While they had been occupied with Fomantis, Salandit approached and her Sweet Scent support arrived at this time, filling Tentacool and Mothim's senses to daze them and make them more even more sluggish than before. Fomantis's Leafage landed with no issue, eliciting a cry of pain from Tentacool. The mantis herself was behind now and ready to lay into the Jellyfish Pokémon with her glowing scythes.

As Mothim flapped its wings to distance itself from Salandit and let loose a Gust into Fomantis, it hesitated now that Tentacool was in the way. With that brief moment of vulnerability, the mantis pushed her victim forward and into its partner.

" _Now!"_

" _Way ahead of you,"_ Salandit responded with some snark before swinging her tail and releasing volatile red liquid from the glands.

As the attack splashed onto the dizzy Mothim and Tentacool who were now tangled together, the substance ignited and burst into flames, knocking the duo out. Two beams of red light lanced out and returned the Pokémon to their Pokéballs. Vermillion did the same and returned his Pokémon back to their balls, barring Joltik who simply crawled back onto his head and Fomantis who took the opportunity to spread her leaves out and photosynthesize on Adrian's shoulder.

"Man, that was an intense fight!" Robert laughed before looking at his disappointed son. "Now, now, don't get down, Thomas. I told you that this might happen. We have to learn from the losses!"

"Yeah, I guess you're right… It was still pretty awesome too! I can't wait to get home and tell mom about this," the boy said with sparkling eyes.

"You go on ahead, sport," Robert said, rubbing his son's head affectionately. "Let's call it here and I'll hold up my end of the bargain with our obliging opponent."

The kid nodded and ran off towards the Canalave City gate as Vermillion approached.

"We're stopping after one battle? I was under the impression that you had more Pokémon to battle with," Vermillion said with a tinge of disappointment.

Robert scratched the back of his head sheepishly. "Haha, yeah, that's what we were planning originally, but I figure you're too strong for us as is! You must have more important things to do than entertain the whims of an old man too, so I thought I'd let you go early."

"I appreciate the sentiment, but I wouldn't have minded," Vermillion laughed. "As long as your kid is satisfied though, I guess."

"Yup, that's the idea!" Robert agreed. "Let's head into the city now, sorry for delaying your journey."

"Not a problem. So, what was this information that you had? Thus far, all I really know about Byron is that he favors Steel-type Pokémon, has a son who is the rookie Gym Leader of Oreburgh City, and likes to frequent Iron Island."

Robert nodded affirmatively as they passed out of the gate and into Canalave City proper. "Yeah, but the newest information I have for you actually has something to do with that last point. Apparently, on his latest trip to Iron Island, Byron found one of those rare Variant Pokémon that've been the craze recently and made it part of his Gym roster."

"Variant Pokémon?" Vermillion asked.

"Oh, you haven't heard?" Robert stated with surprise. "Well, apparently, the Pokémon League and trainers from all over the world have been discovering more and more Pokémon of known species developing alternate typings and move-sets. It's kind of like how the Alola Region had their own local typings of Pokémon like Muk, Ninetales, and such, except more wide-spread now. While they're still pretty rare, it's starting to become quite the phenomenon."

' _It seems this is one of those differences that Arceus mentioned,'_ Vermillion thought with a smile.

"Thanks for the heads-up, but I take it there's a bit more?"

"Well, while the Alolan form Pokémon didn't have very dramatic differences in how effective they were in combat, I've heard that these new variants don't play by the same rules. For examples, I've heard rumors of a variant Electrode that was significantly slower than its natural counterparts but was significantly bulkier and much more suited for physical attacks. Just make sure to keep an open mind, all right?"

"Gotcha," Vermillion said with a thoughtful expression. He smiled at the man and bowed in gratitude. "Thanks for the information, I really owe you one. Would you like to exchange numbers? I'd like to repay this favor someday, should you ever need anything."

Robert shook his hands in refusal. "No, no, you don't need to do that! It wasn't much, I'm sure you would've learned about it sooner or later anyway."

After a few more rounds of back-and-forth, Robert promised to call if anything came up and the two exchanged phone numbers. The man headed back to his waiting family for dinner, leaving Vermillion alone after handing over a small sum of Pokédollars to the teen.

Once Robert left, Fomantis opened her dark pink eyes and sat down, alerting Vermillion to her awakening. She crossed her arms and made a cute humming sound.

" _Is it tradition among humans to bestow wealth upon those who prevail over you?"_ the Sickle Grass Pokémon inquired. _"It seems counter-intuitive to award your enemies with currency that they may utilize to suppress and seek victory over you in future encounters."_

"It's just a part of the culture," Vermillion responded with a chuckle. "If you challenge a stranger to a battle, sometimes you have to be willing to pay up when the stakes are raised. In fact, some people enjoy betting money or goods even when they don't have to just for the competitive drive. It's not a mandatory custom by any means, though. I'm sure some friendships would turn awful sour if the one who lost had to pay up every time."

Fomantis nodded in understanding. _"That makes sense. Human culture is quite interesting, isn't it?"_

"We have our ups and downs," Vermillion shrugged.

" _Oh right, would you mind returning me to my Pokéball for the moment? I would like to retrieve something_."

"Sure."

The teen returned Fomantis and waited till she came back out on her on, this time with her small green scarf wrapped around her neck. She flashed a sweet little smile and worked her way back onto his shoulder.

Vermillion patted her head and took a look around. While he spotted the building that he presumed was the Canalave City Gym, he also found an ice cream stand. He raised one hand above his head to signal Joltik to hop on and descend to face level.

"Hey little buddy, you ready to get some of that ice cream that you were wondering about?" he asked with a grin.

The drowsy spider stood up energetically at that, nodding eagerly. " _Oh boy, I can't wait_."

Vermillion walked towards the ice cream stand, passing a specific alleyway as he did.

"Would you like to join me, sir?"

As the teen started to browse the flavors that the vendor had available, a man wearing a blue hat that resembled a three-pronged claw stepped out of the shadows of the alleyway. He watched Vermillion curiously, his blue eyes glowing for a moment, before he stepped forward to join the younger.

…

Byron of Canalave City was a busy man. He owned and worked in the largest steel factory in the city, producing and exporting construction materials to the region and other parts of the world. He was the Gym Leader of Canalave City, the Steel-type expert who accepted challengers from far and wide in their quest to qualify for the Lily of the Valley Conference. Most importantly though, he _loved_ fossils.

So, while he was busy shirking his responsibilities to the factory, which his wife primarily managed, and had no challengers to attend to at the moment, he was sequestered away in the Fossil Storage room of his Gym. As he marveled over the compact forms and intricacies of the fossils laid before him, he heard the door opening behind him.

"Riley, my friend! You've finally arrived. Come, take a look at this exquisite Tyrunt fossil that was shipped in just yesterday…it's truly a beauty!" Byron shouted without turning around, intent on keeping his eyes on the gem before him.

"I don't believe that's what you asked me to come for, Byron," Riley said with a laugh. "Glad to see you're just as passionate as ever, however."

The Gym Leader let out a bark of laughter before he turned around. "Right, right, sorry about that! Before we get started, how have you been lately? I've been seeing less of you around Iron Island than usual!"

Riley nodded. "I took a brief trip out of Canalave City to refresh myself. My training's ground to a halt for the time being, so I thought changing things up might be helpful."

"Ah, that's quite a problem," Byron said, closing his eyes and bringing his hand to his chin in thought. "Wish I could do more for ya… Maybe the job from Professor Rowan might do you some good!"

"Oh, from the Professor?" Riley asked, his curiosity ignited. "Does it have something to do with this discovery I've heard that you made on Iron Island?"

Byron smiled and reached for one of his Pokéballs. "Charmeleon, come on out."

Riley watched closely as Byron's new Pokémon materialized on the ground and was soon awestruck by the sight before him. The Charmeleon landed on the ground with a loud clang. Its arms past the forearm and legs past the knee were black and metallic, as well as its claws which gleamed in the light.

The flesh underside that ran all the way to the bottom tip of its tail was instead a layer of dark-gray metal. Its flame burned an ominous blue-grey color. The rest of Charmeleon's remaining scale exterior was its usual bright red color, except for what appeared to be a mask covering the upper half of its face and the horn-like protrusion on its head.

The Charmeleon tilted his head at the two humans observing him before losing interest and scratching his head. He wandered away from the pair of humans and decided to take a look around at the fossils he saw laying around in the room.

"How fascinating…" Riley gasped in wonder. "A Fire and Steel type Charmeleon? Could it be…"

"Yes, it is a child from the few Charizards that have been living on Iron Island," Byron affirmed, grimacing as he continued. "I met with them on my last trip and they allowed me to take this one away to experience new things. I saw Charmanders that I presumed to be his siblings, but they were all regular by our standards."

Riley's eyes glowed bright blue as he peered into the Aura of the wandering Charmeleon. He felt melancholy, loneliness, curiosity, fear…

"It seems he was rejected," Riley mumbled, shaking his head slowly as he deactivated his Sight.

Byron let out a sigh. "As I feared then."

"Take good care of him," the Aura adept stated.

"Aye, I plan on it," the Gym Leader responded simply. "Anyway, the favor I wanted to ask ya has to do with a Variant as well. My brat off in Oreburgh actually found a Variant Pokémon as well, but it's not quite his style so he sent it to me to deal with. It's also not quite my style, so I contacted Professor Rowan to see if he'd be interested in taking a look at it."

"Oh? Why didn't you send it directly to him then?"

"He said it might be a good idea for me to send someone to deliver Torchic personally, for the purpose of gathering the field research on the little guy if I had someone I could trust with the task. I figured that if you were nearby, you might be interested."

Riley took a moment to think about it. He didn't have anything to lose by taking a little trip. There was nothing truly binding him to Canalave City after all and it coincided well with his frustration and struggles in advancing further along his path.

"Sure, I'll do it," Riley answered with a smile.

"Great," Byron laughed, grasping his friend's hand and shaking it heavily. "I've actually got the little fella on me right now, so you can just go ahead and take him."

The man handed over a shrunken Pokéball from one of his pockets. Riley accepted it, interested in something other than training for the first time in a while. What kind of trainer wasn't excited by the prospect of discovering the unknown, after all?

Just as he planned to release the Torchic and introduce himself, however, he sensed a dense Aura step into Canalave City. His eyes widened in surprise and a sense of alarm sprouted in his heart as he instinctively looked in the direction of the resonance. The Aura flared slightly, as it seemingly noticed his presence as well. It didn't seem hostile, but he needed to check on the source personally before he would feel assured.

He headed towards the door quickly, a serious expression set upon his face. "Sorry Byron, something's come up. We'll speak another time, my friend."

Byron was surprised by the sudden change in atmosphere but waved it off in understanding. "No problem, just remember to call me if anything exciting happens."

Riley nodded and channeled some Aura into his legs, quickly flickering out of the Gym complex and towards the city proper. A shadow joined his side silently, similarly alert and concerned.

"You felt it as well, Lucario?" the Aura adept spoke solemnly. "Do you know what it could be?"

" _It should be a human,"_ the Aura Pokémon responded. " _This signature is far too_ _ **alive**_ _to be an individual with an inactive Aura... Perhaps it is a travelling Guardian?"_

"Truly?" Riley said in surprise. "A human… I presumed it may be a visiting Lucario or something of the sort."

His curiosity was truly peaked at this point. Once he made his way to the area of town that the Aura was emanating from, he slipped into the shadows of a nearby alleyway and finally got a good look at the source of it all.

It was a young man, whom he presumed to be no older than 20 from looks alone. He was wearing a black and burnt orange t-shirt and navy-blue jeans, with a white cloak-jacket hanging loosely from his shoulders. The visitor wasn't dressed like a typical Aura adept by any means, at the very least.

The initiated few that existed typically adopted the natural blue and black color scheme of Lucario and the style of clothing that the Sir Aaron of legends donned. Before he decided on the next step however, the individual in question made the choice for him.

That was how he found himself sharing a bench with a teen who was handing out portions of Canalave City's signature black sesame seed ice cream to his Pokémon.

" _Oh, wow!"_ Joltik exclaimed with sparkling eyes. _"This flavor, this texture, this richness…it's all so good!"_

" _This consistency is so interesting,"_ Salandit sighed as a sizzling sound emitted from her throat. _"Very satisfying to dissolve. Much colder than I expected though."_

" _We should have this more often!"_ Misdreavus said, swirling happily in the air. _"Do you think you could make this with Berries? I love Berries!"_

"I think I could, but we'd probably need a more permanent residence first before I could," Vermillion answered thoughtfully. He glanced to his little mantis, who was simply staring at her small spoon intensely. "What's wrong, Fomantis?"

The little critter looked up at her trainer and tilted her head in a questioning manner. _"I don't like sweet things very much… Does salty and spicy ice cream exist?"_

"If it doesn't, I'll try and make that too," Vermillion answered with a laugh.

" _You know, I think my mom fed me some of that once,"_ Zorua chimed in as he licked away at his portion. _"But home is a long way from here."_

Vermillion glanced at the guest to his side, who seemed content with simply observing him and his Pokémon for the time being. His Lucario, on the other hand, was quite absorbed in eating the ice cream that his trainer purchased for him. Once his Pokémon peacefully finished off their dessert and returned to their comfortable positions around and on him, his visitor seemed about ready to talk.

Riley opened his mouth to speak, but then closed it and stared at Vermillion for a few more moments. Vermillion felt an air of anticipation forming around them and the man's intense stare was actually managing to make him feel somewhat awkward.

Just as he was about ready to make the first move, Riley finished his pondering.

"Would you accept me as your disciple?" the man requested very seriously.

"…What?"

…

Twenty minutes later, an embarrassed Riley was sulking in an isolated clearing while Vermillion chatted with the man's Lucario.

" _What a fascinating tale,"_ Lucario gasped with wondrous delight. " _If you would like, I'm sure the Lucario Kingdom would be interested in helping you find your homeland, Sir Vermillion. Establishing communications with a culture of humans capable of training in Aura by themselves would be mutually beneficial, I'm certain!"_

"I might take you up on that offer in the future, but I wouldn't want to burden them in the time being. I've come to terms with being separated from my home and I've had many great experiences that I never could have imagined," Vermillion laughed. "And please, just call me by name, there's no need for the formalities."

" _All Aura adepts are worthy of our respect, but if that is your wish…I shall do so, Vermillion,"_ Lucario said with a smile. He glanced at his Trainer with a stern eye. " _Riley! Have you not sulked for long enough?"_

"Yes, yes, I suppose so," the man responded as he walked back over to the group. "I apologize once again for the confusion. I was just so excited to meet a potential Aura Guardian that I lost my senses…"

"it's fine, I really don't mind," Vermillion reassured the man. "I understand the discomfort and anxiety that comes with not being able to make a breakthrough in our path."

"Yes, but enough about my woes," Riley laughed, smiling at the teen. "You and I…we seem to be the same kind of Trainer. You must be one that pursues an apex, just as I do! Have you come to Canalave City to challenge Byron?"

Vermillion looked the man in the eye, smiling at the passion and energy that he spotted within. "Of course. I think I spotted the Gym complex earlier, but I wasn't entirely certain. Could you direct me towards it?"

"I'll bring you there myself," Riley answered. "It's the least I can do for you after the trouble I've caused."

"I'll be in your hands then," Vermillion laughed.

As the small group made their way to the Canalave City Gym, Riley and his Lucario conversed amongst themselves while Vermillion looked around at the city itself. From the man's facial expressions, the teen assumed Lucario wasn't quite finished scolding his Trainer earlier.

He chuckled inwardly as he glanced at Riley for a moment. The Aura Guardian-to-be hadn't changed much from the impressions he formed when they met in his last life. It was a shame that he didn't have the opportunity to get to know the man any better back then, but maybe that would change this time. Human Aura adepts were a rare breed and he felt a sort of kinship with the familiar stranger.

"Vermillion?"

"What's up, Riley?" the teen answered, idly moving his gaze from the building that he'd been staring at.

"Have you ever been partnered with a Lucario?" the man asked curiously. "I know you spoke of the unique practices of your village, but I was wondering if you perhaps came across one elsewhere."

Vermillion considered the question for a moment before deciding to answer honestly…to a certain degree, anyway. You couldn't really lie to an Aura wielder, but half-truths sufficed along with a bit of Aura manipulation.

"I was, some years ago," he said with a smile as he looked back upon fond memories. "He was both a mentor and brother to me. Unfortunately, we had to separate at some point so it's been many years since I last saw him."

"My condolences, Vermillion," Riley said with a sympathetic smile. "I can't imagine how I would feel if Lucario were to leave my side one day. I hope you'll meet again one day."

Vermillion nodded in thanks as they finally arrived at the entrance to the Canalave City Gym.

"It's always worth hoping," he chuckled. "Thanks for bringing me here. Are you planning on heading anywhere else?"

"I don't have any plans for the moment," the elder Aura adept said with a shake of his head. "Why?"

"Why don't you stick around and watch my battle with Byron?" the teen said with a smile. "You might find it interesting."

"I'll make sure to do so, but before that…"

Riley stepped in front of the Canalave City Gym's door, outstretching his arms with a wide grin on his face.

"Come, let me test you first before you challenge my old friend. Battling is my way of greeting and it wouldn't feel right to let you go before we clash!"

Vermillion laughed happily.

"I thought you'd never ask."

…


End file.
